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ANDERSON'S SCHOOL HISTORIES. 



A School History of England. 



Illustrated with Maps. By John J. Anderson, A.M., Author of a 

Grammar School History of the United States, a Pictorial School History of 

the United States, a Manual of General History etc.. etc. 12mo. 302 pages. 

Price $1.60. 

1.— One of the aims of the author is to give not only the political and military history 

of the country, bat also to show its progress from time to time in civilization. 2.— The 

pronunciation of proper names is given in connection with the tames as they occur. 

8.— In addition tc the maps with the text, the work contains six finely engraved and 

beautifully colored historical maps, showing the geographical changes in the country at 

ditfeient periods in its history. 4. — An Appendix contains an exposition of the leading 

features of the English Constitution, and a geographical and historical account of the 

B/itish Possessions. 5.— The work is fully supplied with Chronological and Genealogical 

Tables, Biographical Notes, Subjects topically arranged by means of Review Questions 

and a Pronouncing Index. 6.— The volume embraces only 300 pages, and may therefore 

be easily completed in one or two school terms. 

From The Christian Union (Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, Editor). 

With an accurate perception of the essential events of history, and a power of con 
cise statement that amounts to a gift, Mr. Anderson, without making his history color 
less, has made it brief; and without either presupposing historical knowledge'on the 
part of young persons, or overwhelming them with the customary details that are cer- 
tain to be forgotten, he has succeeded in drawing the course of events in broad, large 
outlines that we should think likely to eDdure in the pupil's memory. So admirable, 
indeed, is the book in this respect, that it would prove of no small service to students 
of greater maturity than those for whom it is designed, either in settling the relative 
bee ring and proportion of what they have read disconnectedly, or as a framework upon 
which to rear the fuller narratives of special histories. In the detailed execution of his 
work, also, Mr. Anderson has embodied many features of great utility — chronological 
and genealogical tables, maps showing tLe political divisions of Great Britain at differ- 
ent periods since the Roman Invasion, marginal dates calculated to keep the sequence 
of events before the pupil's mind, in a word, all those appliances to whose neglect is 
largely due the usual unproductiveness of historical study at school. We have rarely 
seen a text-book that seemed to fulfill its purpose more efficiently than this. 
From The Liberal Christian. 

We think this the best school history we have seen. In less than three hundred 
pages we have a clear, intelligible account, extending from the earliest period of which 
anything is really known of the history of Great Britain down to the present time. The 
student using this book will necessarily become well acquainted with the geography of 
the eountry, as there is a system of Progressive Maps, showing the divisions of the coun- 
try a; different periods of its history. * * * * There are many things told in an in- 
cidental way of the biography of the most distinguished men of the country, which will 
very much tend to excite a wish for additional reading and knowledge. A pretty 
thorough examination of the work leads us to the opinion that its excellence leaves 
little to be desired in a school history. If we could have had such a book at the right 
time, in our school-days, it would have saved us a great deal of valuable time. 
From Prof. Eeen S. Stearns, Principal of the Robinson Female Seminary, Exeter, N. H. 

Prof. Anderson's History of England seems to me, as the result of a close examina- 
tion, eminently adapted to the school-room. Conscious, apparently, that a compend of 
history must, from the nature of the case, exclude much ot narrative and interesting 
detail, the author has, with remarkable skill and judgment, seized upon the most salient 
point? and presented them in such appropriate and forcible language, and so happily, 
that tie student is beguiled through the driest abstractions. In this concise, yet vivid, 
maucjr, ail that is essential to a general knowledge of English history is offered for study 
within limits which can be readily compassed by the circumstances of most schools and 
seminaries. The well drawn maps connecting geography with history, the carefully 
arranged chronological tables with which the work abounds, and the pronunciation of 
proper names constitute also distinctive and most valuable features. The introduction 
of dates, of course not to be dispensed with, has been so arranged as not to interfere 
with the narrative, or to unncessarily burden the student's memory. Certainly, no other 
work of the kind, which I have ever examined, has impressed me so favornMy as this ; 
and I shall be much disappointed if it does not so commend itself to teacuers as to 
epcecLly obtain the very highest place among text-books. 

Published by OLAEK & MAYMED, New York. 



j 



'-Is 



2.G03C (**•&/.-. 

THE 



United States Reader 

EMBRACING 

Selections from Eminc7it American Historians, 
Orators, Statesmen and Poets, 

WITH 

EXPLANATORY OBSERVATIONS, NOTES, Etc. 

THE WnOLE ARRANGED SO AS TO FORM A 

COMPLETE CLASS -MANUAL 

OP 

United States History, 

TO WHICH ARE ADDED A 

VOCABULARY OF DIFFICULT WORDS AND A BIOGRAPHICAL 
INDEX OF AUTHORS. 

BY 

JOHN J. ANDERSON, A.M., 

Author of a " Grammar School History of the United States,'''' a "Pictoriiu 

School History of the United States,"" a '■'Manual of General History,'" 

a "Histoid of England" " The Historical Reader," etc., etc. 



NEW YORK: 
CLARK & MAYNARD, PUBLISHERS, 

5 Barclay Street, 
1873. 




Anderson's Historical Series. 



1. Introductory School History of the United 

States. Illustrated with maps. 195 pp. 16mo. 

This work, though arranged on the catechetical plan, may be read as a continuous 
narrative, the text having been fully written before the questions were prepared. 
It is designed for classes of advanced as well, as lower grades, in which 
only a very brief outline of the history of tub country from its dis- 
covery to the present time is taught. 

2. Common School Hi§tory of the United States. 

Illustrated with maps. 350 pp. 16mo. 

This work is more catechetical than the preceding, since the answers are more 
independent of each other. Designed for large graded schools. 

J. Grammar School History of the United States. 

With one scries of maps showing the location of the places referred to; and another, 
allowing the progress of the country in its territorial acquisitions and political 
divisions. 252 pp. ltinio. 

This work is on the narrative plan, with a set of questions for topical review at 
the end of the sections. It will meet all the wants of graded schools an* 

ACADEMIES. 

4. Pictorial School History of the United States. 

i'ully illustrated with maps, portraits, vignettes, &c. 404 pp. 12mo. 

This work is also on the narrative plan, but more circumstantial in its statements - 
than the preceding. Designed for high-schools and academies. 

*** Each of the above-named works contains the Declaration of Independence, 
and the Constitution of the United States, with questions and explanations; and, in 
the Grammar School History, will also be found Washington's Farewell Address. 

5. A Manual of General History. 419 pp. i2mo. illus- 
trated with maps, showing the changes in the political divisions of the world, and 
giving t.'ie location of important places. Various tables of chronology and contem- 
poraneous events are also given, with a complete pronouncing index. Designed 
for classes of advanced grade. 

6. A School History of Kngland. 300 pp. i2mo. illus- 
trated with ni:.ps, showing the geographical changes in the country at different 
periods. Chronological and genealogical tables are given ; also a complete pro- 
nouncing index. Designed for classes of advanced grade. 

7. Anderson's Bloss's Ancient History, illustrated with 

colored maps and a chart. 445 pp. 12mo. Designed for classes of high gradk. 

XST'One of the leading aims in all of Anderson's Histories is to connect the geogra 
phy with the chronology. 

§. The Historical Reader, embracing selections in prose and verse 
from standard writers in Ancient and Modern History: with a Vocabulary of difflcul 
or unusual words, and a Geographical and Biographical Index. 12inx> 

9. The United States Reader, embracing selections from 
eminent American historians, orators, statesmen and poets, with explanatory obser- 
vations, notes, etc. The whole arranged so as to form a complete class-manual of 
United States History, to which are added a vocabulary of difficult words and a 
biographical index of authors. 12mo. 414 pp. Price, $1.50. 

CLARK & MAYNARD, Publishers, New York. 

Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1872, by John J. Andbbson, in t,,« ufiice of 

the Librarian of Congress, Washington. 



Enjf 
K5f 



PREFACE. 



The general plan of this work corresponds very nearly with 
that of the Historical Reader, recently presented to the 
public; and its object, like that work, is to teach history so as 
to cultivate, at the same time, the taste of the pupil for histori- 
cal reading and study, and to afford in connection therewith, 
appropriate materials for reading-lessons and exercises in elo- 
cution. 

It is quite often a subject of complaint among intelligent 
educators, that the materials of most of the reading-books in 
use supply to so small an extent the means of imparting useful 
information, or of instilling a taste for the perusal of instructive 
books. Their desultory character has, without doubt, a ten- 
dency to prevent this result. 

In the present work, a sufficient variety of composition, it is 
believed, is supplied to afford every necessary exercise in elocu- 
tion; while the subject-matter is connected, from beginning to 
end, not only by notes and observations, but by a continuous 
text, so as to form a succinct narrative of all the great events 
in our history. It is thus not only a Reading-Booh, hut a 
complete History of tlie United States. 

The selections are chiefly from the most eminent historians 



2 Preface. 

(with few exceptions, American) ; also from the illustrious 
orators and statesmen who have, by the splendor of their genius 
and patriotism, shed a peculiar lustre upon our annals. Some 
of the great events are still further illustrated by choice 
extracts, chiefly from the most illustrious of the American 
poets, all having a tendency to infuse into the mind of the 
youthful student a warm patriotic sentiment, as well as to 
impress deeply upon his memory the history of the events 
referred to in these beautiful and spirit-stirring verses. 

Nor is it the smallest consideration, that the pupil, by the 
use of such a compilation as this, of necessity acquires a knowl- 
edge of the best writers, and is enabled, after discontinuing its 
use, or in connection with it, to arrange for himself a proper 
course of historical reading; since the author has been careful 
to insert in connection with the pieces the names of their wri- 
ters, as well as the works from which they have been extracted. 

The text of the history is brief and direct, and, in order that 
the original and selected matter may be at once distinguished, 
has been printed in smaller type, though, it is believed, suffi- 
ciently conspicuous to be easily and conveniently legible. The 
author has used no questions, but has arranged the matter in 
brief paragraphs with prominent headings, indicating at once 
the events described. This arrangement seemed to be better 
adapted to the plan of topical study and recitation, which in 
the author's judgment has, especially in histor3 T , very many 
advantages. The model of analysis will supply further aid to 
teachers in the proper method of conducting recitations. 

The Progressive Maps which have been inserted, particularly 



Preface. 3 

that illustrating the Territorial Growth of the nation, will be' 
found of great value, uot only in teaching the geographical . 
position of the places referred to in the text and selections, but 
also by presenting the great features of the nation's progress 
and development at different periods. The Vocabulary of Dif- 
ficult Words, and the Biographical Index of Authors, w r ill also 
be found very useful appendages to a. work of this character. 

The author submits this work to the impartial examination 
and trial of his fellow-teachers, confident that it will prove a 
valuable addition to the ordinary means of teaching history, in 
bringing the pupil's mind in communion with the masterpieces 
of so many gifted writers ; and that, even where a simple com- 
pilation is used, this work will perform an important service 
as an auxiliary. 

New York, May, 1873. 



ALPHABETICAL OTDEX OF AUTHORS, 

With references to the pages containing selections from each. 



Page 

Allen 143 

Armstrong 214 

BailHe 12 

Bancroft 23, 67, 107 

Reach 357 

Bellows 372 

Brodhead 91, 99 

Bryant 199 

Campbell 53 

(lark ...343 

Clay 281 

Cooper. .... 27G, 305 

DeChaetellux 178 

Dngannc 351 

Esl van 353 

E verctt 82, 86, 90 

Franklin 226 

Garden 206 

Gillett 294 

Grahame 44,73, 74, 127 

Greeley 237, 346 

Greene 181 

Oriinshaw 183 

Guizol an 

Hamilton 202, 209, 224 

Hawthorne 136 

Headley 268,290 

Heinans 51 

R i 1 drc t h 38, 228 

Holmes, A 168 

Holmes, O. W 141, 280 

Hooper 318 

Hopkinson 244 

Irving 20, 26, 79, 96, 184. 240 

Jackson 315 

Jay 224 

Jefferson 254 

Key 293 

Lee -..109 

Levassenr .. ...... 308 



Page 

Lincoln 348, 365 

Longfellow 81, 194, 231 

Lossing 115 

Lyons 326 

Mackenzie 264, 320 

Mackintosh...; 236 

Mansfield '. 327, 333 

Marshall 248 

Mason 246 

Maxcy 139 

Mirabeau .. .235 

Nott , 257 

Orne 174 

Palfrey 59 

Parker 179, 311 

Parkman 30,34,123 

Parton 151, 190, 234, 295 

Pierpont 65, 149 

Pollard 369 

Prescott 17, 27 

Putnam 361 

Ramsay 196, 220 

Randall 166, 252 

Read 366 

Ripley 323 

Robertson 14 

Southey 57 

Story 378 

Sparks US, 1 45, 222 

Sumner 309 

Sweet 341 

Timbs 261 

Washington 213, 218 

Webster, Noah 301 

Webster, Daniel 156, 307, 339 

Whittier 211, 332, 359, 378 

Willis 205 

Winthrop 336 

Wirt 312 



CONTENTS. 



Section I. — Discoveries axd Explorations. 

PAG3, 

Discovery of America (11); Analysis (11). 

First Voyage of Columbus . Baillie. 12 

Landing of Columbus . Robertson. 14 

Other Discoveries and Voyages (17). 

Maritime Enterprise in the loth Century Prescott. 17 

Character of Columbus Irving. 20 

Amerigo Vespucci (23); The Cabots (22). 
Discovery of Florida Bancroft. 23 

Expedition of Balboa (2 i). 
Discovery of the Pacific Ocean Irving. 26 

De Ayllon's Expedition (27); Discovery and Conquest of Mexico (27). 
Boldness of Cortez Prescott. 27 

Expedition of Narvaez (30). 
Expedition of De Soto Parkman. 30 

Explorations by the French (33) ; Settlement of Florida (-33). 

Discovery of Lake Champlain Parkman. 34 

The American Indians Hildreth. 38 

Section II. — Colonial History. 

Sir Humphrey Gilbert's Voyage (44) ; Voyage of Amidas and Bar- 
low (44); First Attempts at Settlement in Virginia (44). 

Settlement of Jamestown Graliame. 44 

Pocahontas Hemans. 51 

Virginia under the Second Charter (52) ; Third Charter (52); Dissolu- 
tion of the Company (53). 

The Cultivation and Use of Tobacco Campbell. 53 

The Navigatio?r Act (55); Bacon's Rebellion (5G) ; Subsequent History 
(56) ; Massachusetts (56) ; Explorations of New England (56) ; 
The Puritaus (57); Voyage of the Mayflower (57). 

Landing of the Pilgrims , Southey. 57 

Settlement of Plymouth Palfrey. 59 

The Pilgrim Fathers Pierpont. 65 

History of Plymouth (66); Massachusetts Bay Colony (66); Rhode 
Island (67). 

Roger Williams and the Settlement of Providence Bancroft. 67 

Rhode Island Plantation (71); New Hampshire (71); Connecticut 
(71); Connecticut Colony (71); Saybrook Colony (71); Pc-quod 
War (72); New Haven Colony (72); Union of the Colonies (72); 
The Charter Oak (,72). 

The New England Confederacy Graliame. 73 



Contents. 



PAGK. 

Eliot's Efforts to convert the Indians Grahame. 74 

Persecution of the Quakers (78); King Philip's War (79). 

Death and Character of King Philip Irving. 79 

The Indian Hunter Longfellow. 81 

Coinage in Massachusetts Everett. 82 

Arbitrary Conduct of Charles II. (85); King William's War (85) ; Salem 
Witchcraft (86). 

Witchcraft in Massachusetts Everett. 86 

Queen Anne's War (89); King George's War (90). 
The Pilgrims Everett. 90 

New York (91); Discovery of the Hudson River (91). 
Voyage of the Half-Moon Brodhead. 91 

Colonization of the Country (95); Governors of New Netherlands (96). 

Character of Peter Stuyvesant Irving. 96 

Conquest of New Netherlands by the English Brodhead. 99 

First English Governor (106); Negro Plot (106); Subsequent History 
(106); New Jersey (106); Maryland (107); Settlemeut of St. 
Mary's (107). 

Commencement of Colonization in Maryland Bancroft. 107 

Subsequent History of the Colony (110): Pennsylvania (110); Grant 
to William Penn (110); Founding of Philadelphia (110); Treatment 
of the Swedes (110) ; Subsequent History (111). 

Penn's Treaty with the Indians Anon. Ill 

Delaware (112); Conquest of the Dutch (112); Subsequent History 
(113): North and South Carolina (113); Georgia (113); Grant 
to Oglethorpe (113); War with the Spaniards (114). 

Section III. — The French and Indian War. 

Causes of the War (114); Washington's Mission (114). 

Incidents of Washington's Journey Lossing. 115 

Events of 1754(117); Events of 1755 (118); Braddock's Expedition 

(US). 
Defeat of Braddock Sparks. 118 

Other Expeditions of 1755 (121); Events of 1756 (122); Events of 1757 
(12J); Events of 1758 (122); Events of 1759 (123). 

Taking of Quebec and Death of Wolfe ParJcman. 123 

Events of 1700, and Close of the War (127). 
State of the Colonies in 17G5 Grahame. 127 

Section IV. — The American; Revolution". 

Causes (133). 
The Stamp Act Grimshaxo. 123 

Effect of its Passage (135); Other Measures of Taxation (135). 

The Boston Massacre Hawthorne. 136 

Tax upon Tea (138); Boston Port Bill (139); First General Congress 
(139); Minute Men (139). 

The First American Congress Ma.vcy. 139 

Events of 1755 (140). 

Battle of Lexington 0. W. Holmes. 141 

Capture of Ticonderoga Ethan Allen. 143 

Second Continental CoDgress (145). 



Contents. 7 



PAGE. 

Appointment of General Washington Sparks. 145 

Battle of Bunker Hill (1-19). 

Warren's Address Pierpont. 149 

Conduct of Lord Dunmore (150); Invasion uf Canada (150). 

Montgomery's Attack on Quebec Parton. 151 

Evacuation of Canada (153) : Events of 1776 (153); Evacuation of Bos- 
ton (153); Repulse of the British from Charleston (154); Declara- 
tion of Independence (154). 

Independence Bell Anon. 154 

Speech of John Adams -. Webster. 15G 

The Declaration of Independence Jefferson. ICO 

Debate in Congress on the Declaration Randall. 160 

Heading of the Declaration to the Army Penn. Journal. 167 

Battle of Long Island Holmes. 16S 

Retreat of Washington (173); Battle of Trenton (173): Battle of 
Princeton (174). 

Washington at Princeton Miss C. F. Orne. 174 

Arrival of Lafayette (175). 
First Anniversary of the Declaration of In dependence. Penn. Jour. 176 

Battle of Brandywine (177); Battle of Gerniantown (177); Burgoyne's 
Expedition "(177). 

Surrender of Burgoyne Be Chastellux. 178 

Washington at Valley Forge Theodore Parker. 179 

Life at Valley Forge Geo. W. Greene. 181 

Events of 1773 (184) ; Evacuation of Philadelphia (184). 

Battle of Monmouth Irving. 184 

Attack on Rhode Island (189)5 Massacre of Wyoming (189); Capture 
of Savannah (189); Events of 1779 (190) : Battle of Chemung (190); 
Paul Jones's Victory (190). 

Paul Jones's Naval Battle Parton. 190 

Repulse of the Americans at Savannah (194). 
Pulaski's Banner Longfellow. 194 

Events of 1780 (195); Taking of Charleston (195); Partisan Warfare in 
the South (195). 

Marion's Brigade Ramsay. 196 

Song of Marion's Men Bryant. 199 

Marion, Sumter, and Pickens H. Lee. 199 

Arnold's Treason (201). 

Execution of Major Andre Alexander Hamilton. 203 

Andre's Last Request. Willis. 205 

Benedict Arnold Garden. 206 

Events of 1781 (207): Mutiny of the Pennsylvania Troops (207); Meas- 
ures of Relief (208); Battle of the Cowpens (208); Retreat of Mor- 
gan and Greene (208); Battle of Guilford Court-House (208); 
Battle of Hobkirk's Hill (208); Battle of Eutaw Springs (209). 

Character of General Greene Hamilton. 209 

Siege of Yorktown, and Surrender of Cornwallis (211). 

Yorktown WMtiier. 211 

Expedition of Arnold (212) ; Close of the Revolution (212); Difficulties 
at the Close of the War (212); Proposal of Colonel Nicola (213). 

IV* 



Contents. 



PAGE. 

Washington's Reply to Colonel Nicola 213 

Ncwburg Addresses (214). 

Address to the Army 214 

Washington's Address to the Officers of the Army 218 

Disbaudment of the Army (2-20); Retirement of Washington (220). 

Washington Resigning his Commission Ramsay 220 

Eminent Statesmen of the Revolution Sparks. 222 

Mount Vernon Rev. Wm. Jay. 224 

Weakness of the Confederacy (224); Adoption of the Constitution 
(224). 

Insufficiency of the Confederation , Hamilton. 225 

Motion for Prayers in the Convention Franklin. 226 

Election of President and Vice-President (228) . 

Section V. — The Nation. 

Inauguration of Washington Hildreth. 228 

The Launching of the Ship , Longfellow. 231 

Washington's Administration (233); Additional States (233); Death of 
Franklin (233). 

Last Hours of Dr. Franklin Parian, 234 

Eulogy on Franklin Mirabeau. 235 

Character of Franklin Mackintosh. 236 

Franklin and Washington Greeley. 237 

Harmar's Expedition (238); St. Clair's Expedition (230); Wayne's 
Expedition (239); Tronblo with the French Minister (289); 
Whiskey Insurrection (239); Jay's Treaty (239). 

Washington at Mount Vernon Irving. 240 

The Retirement of Washington Guizot. 241 

John Adams's Administration (244) ; Trouble with France (244). 

Hail, Columbia Uopkinson. 244 

Death of Washington (246). 

. Tribute to Washington , , Mason. 246 

Character of Washington Marshall. 248 

Removal of the Capital (251). 

The Election of Jefferson Randall. 252 

Advice to the Nation Jefferson. 254 

Admission of Ohio (256); Purchase of Louisiana (256); War with 
Tripoli (257) ; Duel between Hamilton and Burr (257). 

Eulogy on Hamilton Dr. Kott. 257 

Re-election of Jefferson (260); Burr's Subsequent History (260); Trou- 
ble with England (260); Affair of the Chesapeake and Leopard 
(2iil); The Embargo Act (261). 

Steam Navigation Timbs. 261 

King Cotton Robt. Mackenzie. 264 

Madi-on's Administration (267); War of 1812 (267); Little Belt and 

President (267) ; Battle of Tippecanoe (267); Surrender of Detroit 

(268). 

Battle of Qiieenstown J. T. Headley. 2G8 

Capture of the Guerriere by the Constitution Cooper. 276 



Contents. g 

PAGE . 

Other Naval Victories (280); Career of the Constitution (2S0). 

Old Ironsides 0. W. Holmes. 280 

American Privateers (281) ; Opposition to the War (2S1). 

Necessity of the War of 1812 Henry Clay. 281 

Campaign of 1S13 (286): Perrv's Victory (286) ; Battle of the Thames 
(287); Defeat of the Creeks (287): "Campaign in Canada (287); 
Naval Actions (2SS) ; Campaign of 1S14 (.289); Ross's Expedition 
(290). 

Burning of Washington J. T. Headley. 290 

Attack on Baltimore (293). 

The Star-Spangled Banner Key. 293 

The Flag of Washington ;.' F. W. Gillett. 294 

Surrender of the Essex (295); Seizure of Pensacola (295); Expedition 
against New Orleans (2'J5). 

Battle of Xew Orleans Parton. 295 

Hartford Convention (300). 
Objects of the Hartford Convention Noah Webster. 301 

Treatv of Peace with England (303): War with Algiers (303); Monroe's 
Administration (304); War with the Seminoles (304); Cession of 
Florida to the United States (304); New States (30^) ; Missouri 
Compromise (305). 

Death of Commodore Decatur Cooper. 305 

Monroe Doctrine (307) ; Visit of Lafayette (3 )7). 

Address to Lafayette Webster. 307 

Lafayette at Mount Vernon Levasseur. 308 

Death and Character of Lafayette'. Sumner. 309 

John Quincy Adams's Administration (311). 

Death of John Adams Theodore Parker. 311 

Adams and Jefferson Wirt. 312 

The American System (314); Jackson's Administration (314) ; Black 
Hawk War (314) ; Nullification (314). 

Proclamation to South Carolina Jackson. 315 

War with the Seminoles (31T) ; Captivity of Osceola (317). 
Osceola Lucy Hooper. 318 

Van Buren's Administration (319) ; Rebellion in Canada (319) : Har- 
rison and Tyler's Administration (320) ; Annexation of Texas (320). 

Texas Bobt. Mackenzie. 320 

Polk's Administration (322) ; War with Mexico (322). 
Battle of Resaea de la Palma B. 8. Bipley. 323 

Taking of Matamoras and Monterey (325). 
The Martyr of Monterey Bev. J. G. Lyons. 326 

General Kearney's Expedition (327). 
March of Colonel Doniphan Mansfield. 327 

Conquest of California (331) ; Battle of Buena Vista (332). 
The Angels of Buena Vista Wliittier. 332 

General Scott's Expedition (333) ; Occupation of Mexico (333). 
American Conquest of Mexico Mansfield. 333 

Treaty of Peace with Mexico (335) ; Taylor's and Fillmore's Admin- 
istrations (336) ; Admission of California (336). 

Eulogy on Zachary Taylor B. C. Winthrop. 336 



l o Contents. 

PAGE. 

Eulogy on John C. Calhoun Webster. 339 

Death of Henry Clay (341), 

Oratory of Hen ry Clay S. W. Sweet. 341 

Death of Daniel Webster (343). 

Eulogy on Daniel Webster Clark. 343 

Pierce's Administration (344) ; Civil War in Kansas (345) ; Buchanan's 
Administration (313) ; Brown's Raid (345) ; Election of Abraham 
Lincoln (345) ; Hostilities at Charleston (345); Ordinances of Se- 
cession (34(5). 

Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln Greeley. 346 

The Constitution and the People Lincoln. 348 

Capture of Fort Sumter (350) ; Uprising „f the North (350) ; Conduct 
of the Slave States (350) ; Movements of the National Army (350). 

Bethel Duganne. 351 

Battle of Bull Run (352) ; War in .Missouri (352) ; Union Naval Vic- 
tories (352). 

The Merrimac and the Monitor Estvdn. 353 

The Last Broadside Eliz. T. P. Beach. 357 

Battle of Shiloh (*>S) ; Capture of New Orleans (358) ; Defeat of Mc- 
Clellan (358) ; Invasion of Maryland (359). 

Barbara Frietchie WMiticr. 359 

History of Our Flag Rev. A. P. Putnam. 3G1 

Battle of Fredericksburg (364) ; Emancipation Proclamation (364); 
Battle of Chancellorsville (304) ; Battle of Gettysburg (304). 

National Cemetery at Gettysburg .Lincoln. 3G5 

Capture of Vicksburg, etc. (3(55) ; Operations of Grant, Sherman, 
and Thomas (366) ; Grant's Campaign in Virginia (306) ; Opera- 
tions in the Shenandoah Valley (360). 

Sheridan's Ride Read. 366 

Destruction of the Alabama (30S) ; Victory by Admiral Farragut 
(368); Victories of Sherman (368); Occupation of Richmond (368). 

Evacuation of Richmond Pollard. 3G9 

Assassination of Abraham Lincoln (3T1). 

United States Sanitary Commission II. W. Bellows. 372 

Johnson's Administration (376) ; Abolition of Slavery (376); Recon- 
struction (376) ; Impeachment of the President (377^ ; Grant's 
Administration (377) ; Chicago Fire (377). 

Chicago Wdttier. 378 

The Future of the Republic Story. 379 

Territorial Growth of the United States (381); Civil Progress of the 
Nation (384). 

Chronological Table 391 

Vocabulary 399 

Biographical Index of Authors » , , 405 



nfTEODTJOTIOBT. 



PKINCIPLES OF ELOCUTION. 

Elocution is the oral communication of thought. When 
the thought has been previously embodied in written compo- 
sition, elocution becomes recitation or reading. It is recitation 
when .the composition has been committed to memory, and 
reading when the composition is delivered from book or manu- 
script. 

The principles of elocution are, therefore, applicable to read- 
ing, recitation, public speaking, and conversation. They may 
be grouped under articulation, 'pronunciation, inflection, em- 
phasis, pauses, and modulation. 

Articulation is the utterance of the elementary sounds of the 
language. Distinct articulation is the basis of good elocution. 

The elementary sounds are the sounds composing syllables 
and words. They are variously represented by the letters of 
the alphabet, and may be divided into three classes ; namely, 
Vocals, Sub-vocals, and Aspirates. 

Vocals are complete or open sounds expressed by the vowels; 
suo-vocals are sounds modified by the teeth, lips, etc. ; aspirates 
are simple emissions of breath, modified like the sub-vocals. 
Vocals are represented by the vowels ; sub-vocals and aspirates, 
by the consonant letters. 

The following is a table of the elementary sounds. [The 
marks are those used in Webster's Dictionary.] 



Long. Short. 

1. a as in ape 1. e as in end 

2. a " " air 2. a " " add 

3. a " " arm 3. a *' " ask 



United States Reader. 







Long. 












Short. 




4. 


5 


as in 




eve 


4! 


i 




as in 


it 


5. 


e 


u i< 




earn* 


5. 


u 




" " 


up 


6. 


o 


" " 




oak 


(No corresponding short sound.) 


7. 


Q 


u u 




do 


6. 


u 




u u 


bull 


8. 


6 


u U 




or 


7. 


6 




u u 


ox 










Diphthongal. 










9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 


I 
oi 

ou 
u 


«5 £tt 




ice 
oil 
our 
use 


equivalent to 




a and l] Pronounced 
° ' H in one 
° " Q \ sound. 










Modifying. 










13. 


y 


«s era 




yet 


equivalent to 




T joined 


to et 


14. 


w 






WCt 


a 


u 




u " 


et 






SUB-VOCALS. 








ASPIRATES. 




1. 


b 


as in 


bed 


correlative with 


1. 


p as in 


pet 


2. 


a 


it u 


did 




" 


' 


2. 


t * " 


tin 


3. 


g 


" " 


gig 




" 


' 


3. 


k ' " 


keg 


4. 


j 


" " 


jug 




" 


' 


4. 


ch ■ " 


chin 


5. 


V 


" "■ 


vat 




u 


' 


■>. 


f « « 


fat 


6. 


z 


" " 


zone 


u 


■ 


0. 


s " " 


sun 


7. 


111 


" " 


thine 


" 


' 


7. 


th " " 


thin 


8. 


Zll 


" " 


azure 


" 


c 


8. 


sh " " 


shall 




Liquid Sub-vocals. 










Open. 




9. 


I 


«s ^'/^ 




let 


9 


h 




as in 


he 


10. 


m 


" w 




man 


10 


. wh 


" " 


when 


11. 


n 


" " 




noon 




Equivalent to 6 and h.) 


12. 


r 


u tt 




run 












13. 


eg 


" " 




song 













The above table snows that there are 14 vocals; — 8 simple, 
4 diphthongal, and 2 modifying; also that there are 13 sub- 
voeals, and 10 aspirates, making in all 44 elementary sounds 
in the language. These sounds are variously represented by 
single letters, and by diphthongs and triphthongs. Thus in the 



: n in urn is this sound slightly modified ; but not a distinct sound. 





Introduction. 




xiii 


word their, el is 


equivalent 


to «, and in 


the 


i word vietv, ieiu is. 


equivalent to u. 










The following 


exercises will practice 


the 


pupil in articula- 


tion and phonic ; 


analysis. 








i. 

Spell the following words by their sounds, and articulate with distinctness. 


bought 


guard 


honor 




usury 


though 


wolf 


humble 




despiseth 


search * 


would 


valiant 




scientist 


which 


sphere 


beauty- 




elysium 


judge 


laugh 


dutiful 




oceanic 


deign 


daunt 


fearlessly 




omniscient 


height 


cboir 


merrily 




tournament 


sieve 


guide 


drowsiness 




mistiness 


posts 


texts 


treasury 




couscientious 



II. 

Read the following, with particular attention to articulation. 

1. Thirst, hunger, and nakedness are ills incident to human- 
ity. 

2. The profligate's proneness to play leads him into distress, 
and is prejudicial to his health and happiness. 

3. Whispers of revenge passed silently around among the 
enraged troops. 

4. His false and treacherous friends aimed stealthily to de- 
prive him of his dearly-bought wealth. 

5. The merciless blasts, like frightful fiends, howled and 
moaned, and sent sharp shrill shrieks through the creaking 
cordage of the laboring vessel. 

6. Theophilus Thistle thrust three-and- thirty thistles into* 
the thick of his thumb. 

7. Up the high hill he heaves a huge round stone. 

8. Thou rather, with thy sharp and sulphurous bolt, 
Split'st the unwedgable and gnarled oak, 

Than the soft myrtle. 

PRONUNCIATION. 

The proper pronunciation of words depends upon the correct 



XIV 



United States Reader. 



utterance of the elementary sounds which compose them, and 
the right placing of the accent. 

Pronunciation is to be acquired by the careful imitation of 
the best speakers, and by a diligent study or consultation of a 
good standard Dictionary. 

The following exercises are designed to call attention to 
some of the faults which pupils are liable to commit in the 
utterance of the elementary sounds. 



Pronounce. 


Avoid. 


Pronounce. 


Avoid. 


judg'ment 


judg'munt 


sin'gu-lar 


singular 


mod'est 


mod'ist 


par-tic'u-lar 


par-tic'ler 


win'dow 


win'der 


coni-ruancZs' 


coin-mans' 


mis'chiev-ous 


mis-chiev'ous 


char'ac-ter 


char-ac'ter 


du'ti-ful 


doo'tiful 


en'glne 


in'gine 


cov'et-ous 


cov'et-chus 


mis'er-a-ble 


mis'ser-ble 


tre-men'dous 


tre-inend'yus 


coin'pa-iiy. 


comp'ny 




INFLECTION. 





Inflection is a sliding movement of the voice from a higher to 
a lower tone, called the rising inflection, or from a lower to a 
higher tone, called the falling inflection. The former is gene- 
rally indicated by the acute accent (') ; the latter, by the grave 
accent (') ; thus, Will you go' ? Where have you been* ? Did 
he say no', or yes* ? 

When the voice rises and falls in enunciating the same 
word, the two accents are combined, so as to form the wave, or 
circumflex (a or v — ^ or ^) ; thus, Are ydu a traitor? Thou 
art the man. 

When the yoice is sustained in the same tone, without in- 
flection, in enunciating a word or successive words, it is called 
monotone, and is indicated thus (-) ; as, The heavens declare 
the glory of God. 

Examples op Inflection. 

1. Good morning' ! How do you do' ? Very weir, I thank* 
you. How do you do ? 

2. Will you take a walk with me to-day' ? Yes\ 

3. Will you go to-day', or to-morrow v ? 



Introduction. 



4. Are you the person of whom he spoke ? 

5. Can the lamb live in safety with the wolf ? 

6. " To arras 1 ! to arms' ! to arms* ! " they cry. 

7. Who knoweth the power of thine anger* ? Even ac- 
cording to thy fear', so is thy wrath*. 

8. Eoll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll ! 

EMPHASIS. 

Emphasis is the prominence given to a particular word or 
words in a sentence. This prominence may be given by the 
use of the rising, falling, or. wave inflection, by a stress of the 
voice, a change of pitch, an unusual pause, or other means of 
drawing the attention to the word to be distinguished. 

Emphatic words are generally indicated by italics; some- 
times by small or large capitals ; as, " To arms ! To arms ! 
TO AKMS!" he cried. 

Emphasis is either absolute or a?itithetic. 

Examples of Absolute Emphasis. 

1. The quality of mercy is not strained' ; 

It droppeth as the gentle rmn x from heaven' 
Upon the place beneath\ 

2. Strike* — till the last armed foe" expires, 
Strike* — for your altars'" and your fires\ 

3. How pleasant the life of a bird) must be ! 

4. Every' boy and girl in America has heard of George Wash- 

ington'. 

5. This, my lords', is & perilous" and tremendous^ moment. 

Examples of Antithetic Emphasis. 

1. Homer was the greatest genms ; Virgil the better artist. 

2. I come to bury" Caesar, not to praise' him. 

3. I fear not death\ and shall I then fear thee' ? 

4. The ivise y man is happy when he gains his oivn' approba- 

tion ; the fool' when he gains the applause of others'. 

5. They follow an adventurer' whom they fear ; we serve a 

monarch} whom we love. 



xvi United States Reader. 

6. The king was dethroned, and his son enthroned. 

7. Beauty' is like the flowers of spring'; virtue" is like the 

stars of heaven*. 

8. If thine enemy hunger', give him bread v to eat ; if he 

thirst', give him water^ to drink. 

PAUSES. 

There are frequently pauses required by the sense, but not 
indicated by any punctuation marks ; and sometimes the lat- 
ter are used when little or any pause is requisite. The judi- 
cious use of the pause, both as to place and duration, gives 
peculiar expressiveness to reading. 

The pause not indicated by any point, is called *the rhetori- 
cal pause. Its position in the sentence to be read should be 
carefully studied. The following are a few general rules: 

1. Pause after a subject consisting of several words; as, To 
practice virtue — is the sure way to gain it. 

2. Pause after an emphatic word ; as, Be thou a bruised — 
but not a broken — reed. 

3. There should be a short pause before a relative clause ; 
as, Such were the beautiful auspices — under which Maryland 
started into being. 

4. There should be a short pause before an objective phrase 
or clause ; as, The people of the United States have justly sup- 
posed — that this policy was fully settled. 

5. Also before or after words placed in contrast; as, 

Some place their bliss — in action, some — in ease, 
Those — call it pleasure, and contentment — these. 

MODULATION. 

Modulation is a variation of the tones of the voice, as to 
pitch, force, quality, and time, in order to give adequate expres- 
sion to the sentiments or emotions represented in the composi- 
tion delivered. 

Pitch may be high, low, or middle. It is high when the 
voice rises considerably above the tones of conversation, as in 
shouting or calling ; loiv, when the voice fails below the ordi- 



Introduction. xvii 



nary conversational tones, as in very solemn discourse ; middle, 
in conversation. 

Force is the volume or loudness of the voice, in reading or 
speaking. It may be loud, moderate, or gentle. 

Quality has reference to the kind of tone, z&pure, orotund, 
guttural, aspirate, and tremulous. 

Pure tone is clear and smooth ; orotund is full and resonant ; 
guttural is deep and harsh ; aspirate is low and accompanied 
by harsh breathing; tremulous is plaintive, sorrowful, un- 
steady. 

Time refers to rapidity of movement; it may be quick, 
moderate, or slow. 

Exercises. 
I. 

[For Inflection.] 

1. Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea' ? Or hast 
thou walked in search of the depths'? Have the gates of 
death been opened unto thee' ? Or hast thou seen the doors 
of the shadow of death' ? 

2. Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow' ? Or 
hast thou seen the treasures of the hail' ? Canst thou bind 
the sweet influences of Pleiades', or loose the bands of Orion' ? 
Canst thou bring forth Maz'zaroth in his season' ? or canst 
thou guide Arcturus with his sons^ ? 

3. Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the fur- 
row' ? or will he harrow the valleys after thee' ? Wilt thou 
trust him, because his strength is great' ? or wilt thou leave 
thy labor to him' ? Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the 
peacocks' ? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich' ? 

4. Canst thou draw out Leviathan with a hook'? or his 
tongue with a cord which thou lettest down'? Canst thou 
put a hook into his nose'? or bore his jaw through with a 
thorn' ? "Wilt thou play' with him as with a bird' ? or wilt 
thou bind' him for thy maidens' ? Canst thou fill his skin' 
with barbed irons' ? or his head' with fish-spears' ? 

5. Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion' ? or fill the appe- 



xviii United States Reader. 

tite of the young lions' ? Will the unicorn' be willing to 
serve thee', or abide by thy crib' ? Hast thou an arm like 
God' ? or canst thou thunder' like him' ? — Book of Job. 

For additional exercises turn to the following pieces in the Reader : 

1. Yorktown — Whittier p. 211 

2. Independence Bell — verse 3 155 

3. Speech of John Adams — Webster 156 

4. Warren's Address — Pierpont 149 

II. 

[For Emphasis.] 

Seems', madam ! Nay, it iV : / know not seems. 
*'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother', 
Nor customary suits of solemn Mack, 
Nor windy suspirations of forced breath, 
No, nor the fruitful river in the eye, 
Nor the dejected 'havior of the visage, 
Together with all forms, modes, shows of grief, 
That can denote me truly. These, indeed, seem, 
For they are actions that a man might play ; 
But i" have that within which passeth show, — 
These but the trappings and the suits of woe. 

Shakspeare. 
A GOOD CONSCIENCE. 

What stronger breastplate than a heart untainted? 
Thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just ; 
And he but naked, though locked up in steel, 
Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted. 

Shakspeare. 

TACT AND TALENT. 

Talent is something', but tact is everything*. Talent' is seri- 
ous*, sober*, grave', and respectable* ; tact' is all that*, and more 
too*. It is not a sixth sense', but it is the life of all the five\ It is 
the open eye*, the quick ear*, .the judging taste*, the keen smell', 
and the lively touch* ; it is the interpreter of all riddles*, the 
surmounter of all difficulties', the remover of all obstacles'. It 



Introdtiction. xix 



is useful in all places', and at all tinies* ; it is useful in soli-^ 
tude', for it shows a man his way into s the world ; it is useful 
in society', for it shows him his way through' the world. 



THERE ARE NO DEAD. 

There is no death ! The stars go down 

To rise upon some fairer shore ; 
And bright in Heaven's jeweled crown, 

They shine for evermore. 

There is no death ! The dnst we tread 
Shall change, beneath the summer showers, 

To golden grain or mellow fruit, 
Or rainbow-tinted flowers. 

There is no death / An angel form 
"Walks o'er the earth with silent tread ; 

He bears our best-loved things away ; 
And then we call them — " dead." 

Born into that undying life, 
They leave us but to come again ; 

With Joy we welcome them — the same, 
Except in sin and pain. 

And ever near us, though unseen, 

The dear immortal spirits tread ; 
For all the boun dless universe 

Is life ; there are no dead. 

Bulwer. 



Additional Exercises. 

The Pilgrim Fathers. . . Reader, p. 65 

The Stamp Act, (paragraphs 4, 5, 6). 134 

Speech of John Adams ■ • • 156 

Declaration of Independence 160 

Song of Marion's Men • 199 

Address to the Army 214 

Mount Vernon . 224 

Character of Lafayette, (paragraphs 3, 4) 310 

Cemetery at Gettysburg 365 



xx United States Reader. 



III. 

[For Modulation.] 
MEETING. OF FITZ JAMES AND RODERICK DHU. 

[This piece requires great variety of tones. The pitch is partly indicated by 
the italics and capitals.] 

" Thy name and purpose' ? Saxon, stand ! " 

"A stranger'." " What dost thou require'? " 

"Rest' and a guide', and food', and fire', 
My life's beset, my path is lost, 
The gale has chilled my limbs with frost." 
" Art thou a. friend to Roderick' ? " — " AV." 
" Thou darest not call thyself a. foe' ? " 
" I dare ! to him and all the band 
lie brings to aid his murderous hand" 
" Bold w6rds ! — but though the beast of game 
The privilege of clmse may claim, 
Though space and law the stag we lend, 
Ere hound we slip, or bow we bend, 
Who' ever recked where, how, or when, 
The prowling fox was trapped and slain' ? 
Thus treacherous scouts' — yet, sure, they lie, 
Who say thou earnest a secret spy' ! " 
" They do, by heaven ! Come Roderick Dhu, 
And of his clan the boldest two', 
And let me but till morning rest, 
I write the falsehood on their crest." 
" If, by the blaze, I mark aright, 
Thou bearest the belt and spur of knight V 
" Then by these tokens mayest thou know 
Each proud oppressor's mortal foe." 
" Enough', enough' ; sit down', and shaFe 
A soldier's couch, a soldier'sjto'." 
Scott. 

THE FIREMAN. 

The city slumbers. O'er its mighty walls 
Night's dusky mantle soft and silent falls; 
Sleep o'er the world slow waves its wand of lead. 
And ready torpors wrap each sinking head. 
Stilled is the stir of labor and of life ; 
Hushed is the hum, and tranquilized the strife. 



Introduction. xxi 



Man is at rest, with all his hopes and fears ; 
The young forget their sports, the old their cares ; 
The grave are careless; those who joy or weep, 
All rest contented on the arm of sleep. 

Sweet is the pillowed rest of beauty now, 
And slumber smiles upon her tranquil brow ; 
Her bright dreams lead her to the moonlit tide, 
Her heart's own partner wandering by her side. 
'Tis a summer eve ; the soft gales scarcely rouse 
The low-voiced ripple and the rustling boughs ; 
And faint and far, some minstrel's melting tone 
Breathes to her heart a music like its own. 

When, hark ! O horror ! What a crash is there ! 

What shriek is that which fills the midnight air ? 

'Tis " Fire ! Fere ! " She wakes to dream no more ! 

The hot blast rushes through the blazing door ! 

The dim smoke eddies round ; and hark ! that cry ! 

" Help ! Help ! Will no one aid f I die — I die I " 

She seeks the casement ; shuddering at its height, 

She turns again ; the fierce flames mock her flight ; 

Along the crackling stairs they fiercely play, 

And roar, exulting, as they seize their prey. 

" Help ! Help ! Will no one come? " She says no more, 

But, pale and breathless, sinks upon the floor. 

Will no one save thee ? Yes, there yet is one 
Remains to save when hope itself is gone ; 
When all have fled — when all but he would fly, 
The fireman comes to rescue or to die ! 
He mounts the stair — it wavers 'neath his tread ; 
He seeks the room — flames flashing round his head; 
He bursts the door, he lifts her prostrate frame, 
And turns again to brave the raging flame. 

The fire-blast smites him with its stifling breath, 
The falling timbers menace him with death, 
The sinking floors his hurried steps betray, 
And ruin crashes round his desperate way ; 
Hot smoke obscures — ten thousand cinders rise — 
Yet still he staggers forward with his prize. 
He leaps from burning stair to stair. On ! On ! 
One effort more, and all is won ! 



xxii United States Reader. 

The stair is passed — the blazing hall is braved ! 

Still on ! Yet on ! Once more ! Thank Heaven, she's saved ! 

M. T. Conrad. 

BREAK, BREAK, BREAK. 

Break, break, break, 

On thy cold gray stones, O Sea ! 
And I would that rny tongue could utter 

The thoughts that arise in me. 

O, well for the fisherman's boy, 

That he shouts with his sister at play ! 

O, well for the sailor lad, 
That he sings in his boat on the bay ! 

And the stately ships go on, 

To their haven under the hill ; 
But O for the touch of a vanished hand, 

And the sound of a voice that is still! 

Break, break, break, 

At the foot of thy crags, O Sea ! 
But the tender grace of a day that is dead 

Will never come back to me. 

Tennyson. 

PAUL REVERE'S RIDE. 

1. Listen, my children, and you shall hear 
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, 

On the eighteenth of April in Seventy-five ; 

Hardly a man is now alive 

Who remembers that famous day and year. 

2. He said to his friend, — " If the British march 
By land or sea from the town to-night, 
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch 

Of the North Church tower, as a signal light, — 
One, if by land, and two, if by sea ; 
And I, on the opposite shore, will be 
Ready to ride and spread the alarm 
Through every Middlesex village and farm, 
For the country-folk to be up, and to arm." 

3. Then he said " Good night ! " and with mufBed oar 
Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore, ' 



Introduction. xxiii 



Just as the moou rose over the bay, 

Where, swinging wide at her moorings, lay 

The Somerset, British man-of-war : 

A phantom ship, with each mast and spar 

Across the moon, like a prison bar ; 

And a huge black hulk, that was magnified 

By its own reflection in the tide. 

4. Meanwhile, his friend, through alley and street, 
Wanders and watches with eager ears, 

Till, in the silence around him, he hears 
The muster of men at the barrack door, 
The sound of arms and the tramp of feet, 
And the- measured tread of the grenadiers, 
Marching down to their boats on the shore. 

5. Then he climbed to the tower of the church, 
Up the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread, 
To the belfry-chamber overhead, 

And startled the pigeons from their perch 
On the sombre rafters, that round him made 
Masses and moving shapes of shade, — 
Up the trembling ladder, steep and tall, 
To the highest window in the wall, 
Where he paused to listen, and look down 
A moment oh the roofs of the town, 
And the moonlight flowing over all. 

6. Beneath, in the church-yard, lay the dead, 
In their night encampment on the hill, 
Wrapped in silence so. deep and still 
That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread, 
The watchful night-wind, as it went 
Creeping along from tent to tent, 

And seeming to whisper, " All is well ! " 

7. A moment only he feels the spell 

Of the place and the hour, the secret dread 
Of the lonely belfry and the dead; 
For suddenly all his thoughts are bent 
On a shadowy something far away, 
Where the river widens to meet the bay, — 
A line of black that bends and floats 
On the rising tide, like a bridge of boats. 



xx iv United States Reader. 

8. Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride, 
Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride, 
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere. 
Now he patted his horse's side, 

Now gazed at the landscape far and near, 
Then, impetuous, stamped the earth, 
And turned and tightened his saddle-girth ; 
But mostly he watched with eager search 
The belfry tow^er of the Old North Church, 
As it rose above the graves on the hill, 
Lonely, and spectral, and somber, and- still. 

9. And lo ! as he looks, on the belfry's height, 
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light ! 

He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns, 
But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight 
A second lamp in the belfry burns ! 

10. A hurry of hoofs in the village street, 

A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark, 

And beneath, from the pebbles in passing, a spark 

Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet : 

That was all ! And yet, through the gloom and the light, 

The fate of the nation was riding that night ; ' 

And the spark struck out by that steed in his flight, 

Kindled the land into flame with its heat. 

11. It was twelve by the village clock 

When he crossed the bridge into Medford town ; 
He heard the crowing of the cock, 
And the barking of the farmer's dog, 
And felt the damp of the river fog, 
That rises after the sun goes down. 

> 12. It was one by the village clock 

When he galloped into Lexington. 

He saw the gilded weathercock 

Swim in the moonlight as he passed, 

And the meeting-house windows, blank and bare, 

Gazed at him with a spectral glare, 

As if they already stood aghast 

At the bloody work they would look upon. 



Introdtiction. xxv 



13. It was two by the village clock 

"When he came to the bridge at Concord town. 
He heard the bleating of the flock, 
And the twitter of birds among the trees. 
And felt the breath of the morning breeze 
Blowing over the meadows brown. 
And one was safe and asleep in his bed, 
"Who at the bridge would be first to fall, 
Who that day would be lying dead, 
Pierced by a British musket-ball. 

14. You know the rest. In the books you have read 
How the British regulars fired and fled, — 
How the farmers gave them ball for ball, 
From behind each fence and farm-yard wall, 
Chasing the red-coats down the lane, 

Then crossing the fields to emerge again 
Under the trees at the turn of the road, 
And only pausing to fire and load. 

15. So through the night rode Paul Revere ; 

And so through the night went his cry of alarm 

To every Middlesex village and farm — 

A cry of defiance and not of fear — 

A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door, 

And a word that shall echo forevermore ! 

For, borne on the night-wind of the Past, 

Through all our history, to the last, 

In the hour of darkness, and peril, and need, 

The people will waken and listen to hear 

The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed, 

And4he midnight message of Paul Revere. 



Additional Exercises. 

[To aid the teacher in selecting pieces for practice in the various kinds of 
modulation and styles of reading.] 

Descnption, blended with Emotion— -pp. 12, 57, 65, 81, 141, 154, 174, 211, 231, 

293, 326, 332, 351, 3o9, 366, 378. 
Animated or Picturesque Description — pp. 136, 143, 190, 290, 295, 353. 
Indignation, Rebuke, or Denunciation — pp. 133, 161; 213, 216, 217, 315. 
Entreaty, Exhortation, etc— pp. 149, 156, 194, 205, 280, 357. 
Eulogy, Pathetic and Declamatory— pp. 79,235, 246, 257,309,318, 336, 339. 
2 



LIST OF AUTHORS. 



The following List of Authors is inserted for the convenience of teachers and pupils. 
These works may be consulted for the purpose of obtaining fuller information, in re- 
gard to any of the periods of United States history, than is afforded by the Reader. 

Wirt's Life of Patrick Henry. 

H. S. Randall's Life of Jefferson. 

J. C. Hamilton's Life of Hamilton. 



Robertson's History of America. 
Prescott's Conquest of Peru. 

" Conquest of Mexico. 

" Ferdinand and Isabella. 
Irving's Life and Voyages of Columbus. 

" Companions of Columbus. 
Helps's Spanish Conquest of America. 
Bancroft's History of the United States. 
Hildretb's " " " 

Grahame's Colonial History of the U. S. 
Irving's Philip of Pokanoket. 
Parkman's Pioneers of France in the New World. 
Jesuits in North America. 

" Conspiracy of Pontiac. 

Palfrey's History of New England. 
Neal's History of the Puritans. 

'* History of New England. 
Theodore Irving's Conquest of Florida. 
Campbell's History of Virginia. 
Wright's -Memoirs of Oglethorpe. 
Stevens's History of Georgia. 
Met Ice's History of the Irish Settlers in N. A. 
Brodhead'e History of New York. 
Irving's Knickerbocker's History of N. Y. 
E. Everett's Orations and Addresses. , 
Marshall's Life of Washington. 
Bparks's " " 

Ramsay's " " 

Irving's " " 

LoSMllil'S " " 

Lossing's Field Book of the Revolution. 

Ethan Allen's History of his Captivity. 

Moore's Diary of the Revolution. 

Holmes's Annals of America. 

De Chastettox' Journal of Travels in N. A. 

B. Frothingham's History of the siege of Bos- 
ton. 

R. Frothiugham's Rise of the Republic of the 
U.S. 

L. Sabine's Loyalists of the American Revolu- 
tion. 

Greene's Life of General Greene. 

Ramsay's History of South Carolina. 

H. Lee's Memoirs of the War in the South. 

Stone's Life of Brant. 

Stone's Border Wars of the American Revolu- 
tion. 

Sparks's American Biography. 

Weems's Life of Marion. 

Upham'8 Lectures on Witchcraft. 

Sewel's History of the Quakers. 

Trumbull's History of Connecticut. 

Drake's Indian Biography. 

Catlin's Notes on the Indians. 

Jefferson's Notes on Virginia. 



Parton's Life of Aaron Burr. 
" " " Andrew Jackson. 

" " " Benjamin Franklin. 

W. V. Wells's Life of Samuel Adams. 

C. F. Adams's Life of John Adams. . 

Goodrich's Lives of the Signers of the Declara- 
tion of Independence. 

Headley's Life of La Fayette. 

Simms's Life of Paul Jones. 

Hawthorne's True Stories from History and Bi- 
ography. 

Moultrie's Memoirs of the Revolution. 

Graham's Life of General Morgan. 

Adams's Life of Madison. 

W. C. Rives's Life of Madison. 

Waldo's Life of Decatur. 

Cooper's Naval History of the U. S. 

Lossing's Field-Book of the War of 1812. 

Wm. Jay's Life of John Jay. 

S. P. Hildreth's Lives of the Early Settlers In* 
Ohio. 

Gayarre's History of Louisiana. 

Hamilton's Letters and Speeches. 

The Federalist. 

N. Webster's Sketches of American Policy. 

Headley's History of the Second War with Eng- 
land. 

Marshall's History of Kentucky. 

Thompson's History of Vermont. 

Williamson's History of Maine. 

Belknap's History of New Hampshire. 

Dillon's History of Indiana. 

Edwards's History of Illinois. 

Sprague's Florida War. 

Curtis's Life of Webster. 

Webster's Great Orations.* 

Parker's Historic Americans. 

Henry Clay's Speeches. 

Ripley's History of the War with Mexico. 

Mansfield's History of the Mexican War. 

Chase's History of Polk's Administration. 

Livermore's Review of the Mexican War. 

Greeley's American Conflict. 

Moore's Rebellion Record. 

Badeau's Military History of General Grant. 

Draper's History of the Rebellion. 

Estvan's War Pictures from the South. 

Stephens's History of the United States. 

Mill's History of Minnesota. 

Tuthill's History of California. 

E. A. Pollard's Southern History of the War. 

Lemon's Life of Lincoln. 



The United States reader. 



SECTION I. 
Discoveries and Explorations. 

Discovert/ of America. — Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of 
America, was born in the city of Genoa (jen'o-ah), Italy. At an early age he 
manifested a fondness for the sea, and the most of his life, previous to its great 
event, was passed on the waters of the Mediterranean, and the west coast of 
Africa ; and he even made a voyage toward Greenland, passing beyond the island 
of Iceland. 

In those days, when navigation was yet in its infancy, the usual route to 
India — the country in the southeast part of Asia, with the adjacent islands — 
was by way of Egypt and the Red Sea, the passage around the southern ex- 
tremity of Africa being then unknown. Columbus, believing the earth to be 
round, concluded that by sailing westward he would sooner reach India than by 
taking this route. This conception he determined to realize, being influenced 
by the conviction that he was commissioned by Heaven to carry the Gospel to 
the heathen of unknown lands. 

His first application for aid was to the government of Genoa : it was refused. 
After applying, without success, to the monarchs of England and Portugal, he 
was assisted by Isabella,* Queen of Spain, and he set sail from Palos (pah'los), 
at the mouth of the river Tinto, in that country, with a fleet of three vessels. 
The first land which he saw, after a voyage of ten weeks, was one of the 
Bahama Islands, called by the natives Guanahani (gwah-nak-hah'ne), by him 
San Salvador [Holy Saviour), now sometimes known as Cat Island (October, 
1492). 

£§F* [The pronunciation and meaning of the words marked ( T ) are given in the Vo- 
cabulary at the end of the volume.] 

- ANALYSIS. 

Columbus, his early life— How prompted to the enterprise— His equipment— First 
land discovered— Date. 

* " Queen Isabella was one of the purest spirits that ever ruled over the destinies of a nation. Had 
she been spared, her benignant vigilance would have prevented many a scene of horror in the colo- 
nization of the New World, and might have softened the lot of its native inhabitants. As it is, her 
fair name will ever shine with celestial radiance in the dawning of its history."— Irving. 



The United States Reader, [1492. 



First Voyage of Columbus. — Joanna Baillie, 

1. "What did the ocean's waste supply 
To soothe the mind or please the eye? 

The rising morn through dim mist breaking. 
The flickered east with purple streaking ; 
The mid-day cloud through thin air flying, 
With deeper blue the blue sea dyeing ; 
Long ridgy waves their white manes rearing, 
And in the broad gleam disappearing; 
The broadened, blazing sun declining, 
And western waves like fire-floods shining; 
The sk} T 's vast dome to darkness given, 
And all the glorious host of heaven ! 

2. Full oft upon the deck — while others slept — 
To mark the bearing of each well-known star, 
That shone aloft or on the horizon v far, 

The anxious Chief his lonely vigil kept. 
The mournful wind, the hoarse wave breaking near, 
The breathing groans of sleep, the plunging lead, 
The steersman's call, and his own stilly tread, 
Are all the sounds of night that reach his ear. 

3. But soon his dauntless soul, which nought could bend, 
Nor hope delayed nor adverse fate subdue, — 

"With a more threatening danger must contend 

Than storm or wave — a fierce and angry crew ! 

" Dearly," say they, " may we those visions rue 

"Which lured us from our native laud, — 

A wretched, lost, devoted band, 

Led on by hope's delusive gleam, 

The victims of a madman's dream ! 

Nor gold shall e'er be ours, nor fame, 

Not even the remnant of a name, 

On some rude-lettered stone, to tell 

On what strange coast our wreck befell. 

For us no requiem v shall be sung, 

Nor prayer be said, nor passing knell 

In holy church be rung." 

4. To thoughts like these all forms give way 
Of duty to a leader's sway ; 



1492.] Discoveries and Explorations. 13 

And, as he moves, — oh ! wretched cheer! 

Their muttered curses reach his ear. 

But all undaunted, firm, and sage, 

He scorns their threats, yet thus he soothes then* rage : 

" That to some Bearing coast we bear, 

How many cheering signs declare ! 

Wayfaring birds the blue air ranging, 

Their shadowy line to blue air changing, 

Pass o'er our heads in frequent flocks; 

While sea- weed from the parent rocks, 

With fibry roots, but newly torn, 

In wreaths are on the clear wave borne. 

Nay, has not e'en the drifting current brought 

Things of rude art, by human cunning wrought? 

Be yet two days your patience tried, 

And if no shore is then descried, 

E'en turn your dastard prows again, 

And cast your leader to the main." 

5. And thus a while, with steady hand, 
He kept in check a wayward band, 
Who but with half-expressed disdain, 
Their rebel spirit could restrain. 

So passed the day, — the night, — the second day, 
With its red setting sun's extinguished ray. 

6. Dark, solemn midnight coped the ocean wide, 
When from his watchful stand Columbus cried, 
" A light, a light !" — blest sounds that rang 

In every ear. At once they sprang 

With haste aloft, and, peering bright, 

Descried afar the blessed sight. 

" It moves ! It slowly moves, like ray 

Of torch that guides some wanderer's way ! 

Lo ! other lights, more distant, seeming 

As if from town or hamlet streaming ! 

'Tis land ! 'Tis peopled land ! Man dwelleth there; 

And thou, O God of heaven, hast heard thy servant's prayer!" 

7. Returning day gave to their view 
The distant shore and headland blue 
Of long-sought land. Then rose on air 
Loud shouts of joy, mixed wildly strange 



14 The United States Reader. [1492. 

With voice of weeping and of prayer, 
Expression of their blessed change 
From death to life, from fierce to kind, 
From all that sinks to all that elevates the mind. 

8. Those who, by faithless fear ensnared, 
Had their brave chief so rudely dared, 
Now, with keen self-upbraiding stung, 
With every manly feeling wrung, 
Repentant tears, looks that entreat, 
Are kneeling humbly at his feet: 

11 Pardon our blinded, stubborn guilt! 
O, henceforth make us what thou wilt! 
Our hands, our hearts, our lives are thine, 
Thou wondrous man, led on by power divine !" 

9. Columbus led them to the shore 
Which ship had never touched before; 
And then he knelt upon the strand 
To thank the God of sea and land; 
And then, with mien and look elate, 
Gave welcome to each toil-worn mate. 
And lured, with courteous signs of cheer, 
The dusky natives gathering near, 

Who on them gazed with wondering eyes, 
As missioned spirits from the skies. 
And then did he possession claim 
In royal Isabella's name. 



Landing of Columbus. — Robertson. 

1. As soon as the sun arose, all their boats were manned and 
armed. They rowed toward the island with their colors dis- 
played, with warlike music, and other martial pomp. As they 
approached the coast, they saw it covered with a multitude of 
people, whose attitudes and gestures expressed wonder and 
astonishment at the strange objects which presented themselves 
to their view. Columbus was the first European who set foot 
in the New World which he had discovered. 

2. He landed in a rich dress, and with a naked sword in his 
hand. His men followed, and kneeling down, they all kissed 
the ground which they had so long desired to see. They next 



1492.] Discoveries a?id Explorations. i5 

erected a crucifix/ and prostrating themselves before it, returned 
thanks to God for conducting their voyage to such a happy 
issue. They then took solemn possession of the country for the 
crown of Castile and Leon, with all the formalities v which the 
Portuguese were accustomed to observe in acts of this kind, in 
their new discoveries. 

3. The Spaniards, while thus employed, were surrounded by 
many of the natives, who gazed, in silent admiration, upon 
actions which they could not comprehend, and of which they 
did not foresee the consequences. The dress of the Spaniards, 
the whiteness of their skins, their beards, their arms, appeared 
strange and surprising. The vast machines in which they had 
traversed the ocean, that seemed to move upon the water with 
wings, and uttered a dreadful sound resembling thunder, ac- 
companied with lightning and smoke, struck them with such 
terror, that they began to respect their new guests as a superior 
order of beings, and concluded that they w T ere children of the 
sun, who had descended to visit the earth. 

4. The Europeans were hardly less amazed at the scene now 
before them. Every herb, and shrub, and tree, was different 
from those which flourished in Europe. The soil seemed to be 
rich, but bore few marks of cultivation. The climate, even to 
the Spaniards, felt warm, though extremely delightful. The 
inhabitants appeared in the simple innocence of nature, entirely 
naked. Their black hair, long and uncurled, floated upon their 
shoulders, or was bound in tresses around their heads. They 
had no beards, and every part of their bodies was perfectly 
smooth. Their complexion was of a dusky copper-color, their 
features singular, rather than disagreeable, their aspect gentle 
and timid. 

5. Though not tall, they were well-shaped and active. Their 
faces, and several parts of their body, were fantastically v painted 
with glaring colors. They were shy at first through fear, but 
soon became familiar with the Spaniards, and with transports 
of joy received from them hawks-bells v , glass beads, or other 
baubles, in return for which they gave such provisions as they 
had, and some cotton yarn, the only commodity of value that 



1 6 The United States Reader. [1492. 

they could produce. Toward evening, Columbus returned, to 
his ship, accompanied by many of the islanders in their boats, 
which they called canoes ; and though rudely formed out of the 
trunk of a single tree, they rowed them with surprising dex- 
terity 

6. Columbus employed the next day in visiting the coasts of 
the island ; and from the universal poverty of the inhabitants, 
he perceived that this was not the rich country for which he 
sought. But, conformably to his theory concerning the dis- 
covery of those regions of Asia which stretched toward the 
east, lie concluded that San Salvador was one of the isles which 
geographers described as situated in the great ocean adjacent to 
India. Having observed that most of the people whom he had 
seen wore small plates of gold, by way of ornament, in their nos- 
trils, he eagerly inquired where they got that precious metal. 

7. They pointed toward the south, and made him compre- 
hend, by signs, that gold abounded in countries situated in that 
quarter. Thither he immediately determined to direct his 
course, in full confidence of finding there those opulent regions 
which had been the object of his voyage, and would be a recorn- 
pense for all his toils and dangers. He took along with him 
seven of the natives of San Salvador, that, by acquiring the 
Spanish language, they might serve as guides and interpreters ; 
and those innocent people considered it as a mark of distinction 
when they were selected to accompany him. 

8. He saw several islands, and touched at three of the largest, 
on which he bestowed the names of St. Mary of the Conception, 
Fernandina, and Isabella. He inquired everywhere for gold, and 
the signs that were uniformly made by way of answer, con- 
firmed him in the opinion that it was brought from the south. 
He followed that course, and soon discovered a country which 
appeared very extensive, not perfectly level, like those which he 
had already visited, but so diversified with rising grounds, hills, 
rivers, woods, and plains, that he was uncertain whether it 
might prove an island, or a part of the continent. The natives 
of San Salvador, whom he had on board, called it Cuba : Co- 
lumbus gave it the name of Juana. 



1506.] Discoveries and Explorations. 17 

ANALYSIS.-II. 

1. Appearance of the New World. 2. Conduct of the Spaniards on landing. 3. Be- 
havior of the natives. 4. Feelings of the Europeans— The climate. 4,5. Description 
of the natives. 6. Further proceedings of Columbus— Belief as to the nature of his 
discovery— Gold. 7, 8. Further voyages and explorations— Cuba. 

Other Discoveries and Voyages. — Columbus continued his explo- 
rations among the islands, discovering Hayti, which he named Hispaniola 
(Little Spain), on the 6th of December following. Thence, he sailed on his 
return to Spain, which he reached in March (1493). He was received by his 
sovereigns (Ferdinand and Isabella) with great pomp and rejoicing, and the 
fame of his successful expedition soon spread over Europe, exciting very great 
astonishment and curiosity. 

Columbus made three other voyages to the New World, in the first of which, 
as well as in the one just described, his discoveries were confined to the islands 
between North and South America; but in his third voyage, in 1498, he dis- 
covered the mainland, at the mouth of the River Orinoco, in South America ; 
and in the fourth and last, he examined the coast of Darieri. He still, how- 
ever, believed that the lands which he had discovered were a portion of eastern 
Asia, instead of a new continent ; and in this conviction he died, thus remaining 
in ignorance of the real grandeur of his discovery (1506). 

Maritime Enterprise in the 15th Century.— Prescott. 

1. The improvements which took place in the art of naviga- 
tion, the more accurate measurement of time, and, above all, 
the discovery of the polarity v of the magnet, greatly advanced 
the cause of geographical knowledge. Instead of creeping 
timidly along the coast, or limiting his expeditions to the nar- 
row basins of inland waters, the voyager might now spread his 
sails boldly on the deep, secure of a guide to direct his bark 
unerringly across the illimitable v waste. The consciousness of 
this power led thought to travel in a new direction ; and the 
mariner began to look with earnestness for another path to the 
Indian Spice-islands than that by which the Eastern caravans 
had traversed the continent of Asia. 

2. The nations on whom the spirit of enterprise, at this 
crisis, naturally descended, were Spain and Portugal, placed, 
as they were, on the outposts of the European continent, com- 
manding the great theatre of future discovery. Both countries 
felt the responsibility of their new position. The crown of 



The United States Reader. 



Portugal was constant in its efforts, through the fifteenth 
century, to find a passage round the southern point of Africa 
into the Indian Ocean ; though so timid was the navigation 
that every fresh headland became a formidable barrier; and 
it was not till the latter part of the century, that the adven- 
turous Diaz passed quite round the Stormy Cape, as he 
termed it, but which John the Second, with happier augury v , 
called the Cape of Good Hope (1486). 

3. But, before Vasco de Gama had availed himself of this 
discovery to spread his sails in the Indian seas (1497), Spain 
entered on her glorious career, and sent Columbus across the 
western waters. The object of the great navigator was still 
the discovery of a route to India, but by the west instead of 
the east, lie had no expectation of meeting with a continent 
in his way; and, after repeated voyages, he remained in his 
original error, dying, as is well known, in the conviction that 
it was the eastern shore of Asia which he had reached. 

4. It was the same object which directed the nautical v en- 
terprises of those who followed in the admiral's track; and the 
discovery of a strait into the Indian Ocean was the burden of 
every order from the government, and the design of many an 
expedition to different points of the new continent, which 
seemed to stretch its leviathan'' length along from one pole to 
the other. The discovery of an Indian passage is the true key 
to the maritime v movements of the fifteenth and the first half 
of the sixteenth centuries. It was the great leading idea that 
gave the character to the enterprise of the age. 

5. It is not easy at this time to comprehend the impulse 
given to Europe by the discovery of America. It was not the 
gradual acquisition of some border territory, a province, or a 
kingdom, that had been gained, but a New World that was now 
thrown open to the European. The races of animals, the 
mineral treasures, the vegetable forms, and the varied aspects 
of nature, man in the different phases v of civilization, filled the 
mind with entirely new sets of ideas, that changed the habitual 
current of thought and stimulated it to indefinite conjecture. 

6. The eagerness to explore the wonderful secrets of the new 



i52i.] Discoveries and Explorations. 19 

hemisphere became so active, that the principal cities of Spain 
were, in a manner, depopulated', as emigrants thronged one 
after another to take their chance upon the deep. It was a 
world of romance that was thrown open; for, whatever might 
be the luck of the adventurer, his. reports on his return were 
tinged with a coloring of romance that stimulated still higher 
the sensitive fancies of his countrymen, and nourished the 
chimerical' sentiments of an age of chivalry'. They listened 
with attentive ears to tales of amazons which seemed to realize 
the classic legends' of antiquity, to stories of Patagonian giants, 
to naming pictures of an El Dorado', where the sands sparkled 
with gems, and golden pebbles as large as birds' eggs were drag- 
ged in nets out of the rivers. 

7. It would seem to have been especially ordered by Provi- 
dence that the discovery of the two great divisions of the 
American hemisphere should fall to the two races best fitted to 
conquer and colonize them. Thus the northern section was 
consigned to the Anglo-Saxon race, whose orderly, industrious 
habits found an ample field for development under its colder 
skies and on its more rugged soil ; while the southern portion, 
with its tropical' products and treasures of mineral wealth, held 
out the most attractive bait to invite the enterprise of the 
Spaniard. ' 

8. Under the pressure of that spirit of nautical enterprise 
which filled the maritime communities of Europe in the six- 
teenth century, the whole extent of the mighty continent, from 
Labrador to Terra del Fuego, was explored in less than thirty 
years after its discovery ; and in 1521, the Portuguese Maghel- 
lan, sailing under the Spanish flag, solved the problem of the 
strait, and found a westerly way to the long-sought Spice-isl- 
ands of India, — greatly to the astonishment of the Portuguese, 
who, sailing from the opposite direction, there met their rivals, 
face to face, at the antipodes'. But while the whole eastern 
coast of the American continent had been explored, and the 
central portion of it colonized, even after the brilliant achieve- 
ment of the Mexican conquest, — the veil was not yet raised 
that hung over the golden shores of the Pacific. — History of 
the Conquest of Peru. 



20 The United States Reader. 

Character of Columbus.— Irving. 

1. The conduct of Columbus was characterized by the gran- 
deur of his views, and the magnanimity' of his spirit. Instead 
of scouring the newly-found countries, like a grasping adven- 
turer' eager only for immediate gain, as was too generally the 
case with contemporary'' discoverers, he sought to ascertain their 
soil and productions, their rivers and harbors : he was desirous 
of colonizing and cultivating them; of conciliating and civil- 
izing the natives; of building cities; introducing the useful 
arts; subjecting everything to the control of law, order, and 
religion ; and thus of founding regular and prosperous empires. 

2. In this glorious plan, he was constantly defeated by the 
dissolute rabble which it was his misfortune to command ; with 
win mi all law was tyranny, and ail order restraint. They 
interrupted all useful works by their seditions v ; provoked the 
peaceful Indians to hostility ; and after they had thus drawn 
down misery and warfare upon their own heads, and over- 
whelmed Columbus with the ruins of the edifice he was build- 
ing, they charged him with being the cause of the confusion. 
Well would it have been for Spain, had those who followed in 
the track of Columbus possessed his sound policy and liberal 
views. The New World, in such cases, would have been settled 
by pacific colonists, and civilized by enlightened legislators; 
instead of being overrun by desperate adventurers, and desolated 
by avaricious conquerors. 

3. Columbus was a man of quick sensibility, liable to great 
excitement, to sudden and strong impressions, and powerful 
impulses. He was naturally irritable v and impetuous, and 
keenly sensible to injury and injustice; yet the quickness of 
his temper was counteracted by the benevolence and generosity 
of his heart. The magnanimity of his nature shone forth 
through all the troubles of his stormy career. Though contin- 
ually outraged in his dignity, and braved in the exercise of his 
command ; though foiled in his plans, and endangered in his 
person by the seditions of turbulent and worthless men, and 
that too at times when suffering under anxiety of mind and 



Discoveries and Explorations. 



anguish of body sufficient *to exasperate' the most patient, yet 
he restrained his valiant and indignant spirit, by the strong 
power of his mind, and brought himself to forbear and reason, 
and even to supplicate : nor should we fail to notice how free 
he was from all feeling of revenge, how ready to forgive and 
forget, on the least sign of repentance and atonements He 
has been extolled for his skill in controlling others; but far 
greater praise is due to him for his firmness in governing him- 
self. 

4. His natural benignity v made him accessible to all kinds of 
pleasurable sensations from external objects. In his letters and 
journals, instead of detailing circumstances with the technical*' 
precision of a mere navigator, he notices the beauties of nature 
with the enthusiasm'' of a poet or a painter. As he coasts the 
shores of the New World, the reader participates in the enjoy- 
ment with which he describes, in his imperfect but picturesque' 
Spanish, the varied objects around him ; the blandness v of the 
temperature, the purity of the atmosphere, the fragrance of the 
air, "full of dew and sweetness," the verdure of the forests, the 
magnificence of the trees, the grandeur of the mountains, and 
the limpidity' and freshness of the running streams. 

5. New delight springs up for him in every scene. He extols 
each new discovery as more beautiful than the last, and each 
as the most beautiful in the world; until, with his simple earn- 
estness, he tells the sovereigns, that, having spoken so highly 
of the preceding islands, he fears that they will not credit him, 
when he declares that the one he is actually describing sur- 
passes them all in excellence. 

6. In the same ardent and unstudied way, he expresses his 
emotions on various occasions, readily affected by impulses of 
joy or grief, of pleasure or indignation. When surrounded 
and overwhelmed by the ingratitude and violence of worthless 
men, he often, in the retirement of his cabin, gave way to bursts 
of sorrow, and relieved his overladen heart by sighs and groans. 
When he returned in chains to Spain, and came into the pres- 
ence of Isabella, instead of continuing the lofty pride with 
which he had hitherto sustained his injuries, he was touched 



22 The United States Reader, 

with grief and tenderness at her sympathy, and burst forth into 
sobs and tears. 

7. He was devoutly pious ; religion mingled with the whole 
course of his thoughts and actions, and shone forth in his most 
private and unstudied writings. Whenever he made any great 
discovery, be celebrated it by solemn thanks to God. The 
voice of prayer and melody of praise rose from his ships when 
they first beheld the New World, and his first action on land- 
ing was to prostrate himself upon the earth and return thanks- 
givings. Every evening, the Salve RegincC and other vesper' 
hymns were chanted by his crew, and masses were performed 
in the beautiful groves bordering the wild shores of this heathen 
land 

8. He was decidedly a visionary/ but a visionary of an un- 
common and successful kind. The manner in which his 
ardent imagination and mercurial v nature were controlled by a 
powerful judgment, and directed by an acute sagacity, is the 
most extraordinary feature of his character. Thus governed, 
his imagination, instead of exhausting itself in idle flights, lent 
aid to his judgment, and enabled him to form conclusions at 
which common minds could never have arrived, nay, which 
they could not perceive when pointed out. 

9. To his intellectual vision it was given to read the signs 
of the times, and to trace, in the conjectures and reveries of 
past ages, the indications of an unknown world; as sooth- 
sayers v were said to read prediction s v in the stars, and to fore- 
tell events from the visions of the night. " His soul," observes 
a Spanish writer, "was superior to the age in which he lived. 
For him was reserved the great enterprise of traversing that 
sea which had given rise to so many fables, and of deciphering 
the mystery* of his time." 

10. With all the fervor of his imagination, its fondest dreams 
fell short of the reality. He died in ignorance of the real gran- 
deur of his discovery. Until his last breath, he entertained the 
idea that he hud merely opened a new way to the old mart of 
opulent* commerce, and had discovered some of the wild regions 
of the east. He supposed Hispaniola to be the ancient Ophir 



1498.] Discoveries a?id Explorations. 23 

which bad been visited by tbe ships of Solomon, and that Cuba 
and Terra Firma were but remote parts of Asia. 

11. What visions of glory would have broken upon his mind 
could lie have known that he had indeed discovered a new 
continent, equal to the whole of the old world in magnitude, 
and separated by two vast oceans from all the earth hitherto 
known by civilized man ! And how would his magnanimous 
spirit have been consoled, amidst the afflictions of age and the 
cares of penury v , the neglect of a fickle public, and the injustice 
of an ungrateful king, could he have anticipated the splendid 
empires which were to spread over the beautiful world he had 
discovered; and the nations, and tongues, and languages which 
were to fill its lands with his renown, and revere and bless his 
name to the latest posterity"! — Life and Voyages of Cohimbus. 

Amerigo Vespucci. — In 1499, the year after Columbus discovered 
the continent, Amerigo Vespucci (ah-mu-re'gd ves-poot'eke), an Italian naviga- 
tor, visited the eastern coast of South America, and, in 1501, made a second 
voyage to the same regions. He prepared accounts of these two voyages, 
which were published in Europe, in which he claimed to be the first European 
that had landed on the western continent. In consequence of the claim set up 
by him, as well as from the fact that his were the first published accounts of the 
newly discovered country, it was called America. 

The Cabot S. — In 1497, about one year before Columbus discovered the 
continent, and two years previous to Amerigo's visit, John Cabot and his son 
Sebastian, while sailing under a commission from Henry VII. of England, dis- 
covered the coast of Labrador, and thus were the first to discover the continent 
of America. In a second voyage, made by Sebastian Cabot in 1498, the coast, 
from Labrador to Chesapeake Bay — some say to Elorida — was explored : land- 
ings were made in several places, and natives were seen, clad in the skins of 
beasts, and making use of copper. These achievements of the Cabots, the dis- 
covery and explorations, proved of momentous importance, especially to En- 
gland, as, by reason of them, that country based her claim to all the region from 
Labrador to Florida. 

The Discovery of Florida. — Bancroft. 

1. Juak Poxce de Leo^ {pon'-tha da Id-on') was the discov- 
erer of Florida. His youth had been passed in military service 
in Spain ; and during the war in Granada (gran-ati 'dali) he had 
shared in the wild exploits of predatory v valor. No- sooner had 

2 



24 The United States Reader. [1512. 

the return of the first voyage across the Atlantic given an as- 
surance of a New World, than he hastened to participate in the 
dangers and the fruits of adventure in America. He was a 
fellow- voyager of Columbus in his second expedition. In the 
wars of Hispaniola he had been a gallant soldier ; and Ovando 
had rewarded him with the government of the eastern province 
of that island. 

2. From the hills in his jurisdiction", he could behold, 
across the clear waters of a placid v sea, the magnificent vegeta- 
tion of Porto Rico, which distance rendered still more admira- 
ble, as it was seen through the transparent atmosphere of the 
tropics. A visit to the island stimulated the cupidity' of 
avarice, and Ponce aspired to the government. He obtained 
the station: inured' to sanguinary" war, he was inexorably" 
severe in his administration. He oppressed the natives; he 
amassed wealth. But his commission as governor of Porto 
Rico conflicted with the claims of the family of Columbus; 
and policy, as well as justice, required his removal. Ponce was 
displaced- 

3. ret, in the midst of an archipelago", and in the vicinity 
of a continent, what need was there for a brave soldier to pine 
at the loss of power over a wild though fertile island ? Age had 
not tempered the love of enterprise : he longed to advance his 
fortunes by the conquest of a kingdom, and to retrieve a reputa- 
tion which was not without a blemish. Besides, the veteran" 
soldier, whose cheeks had been furrowed by hard service as 
well as by years, had heard, and had believed the tale, of a 
fountain which possessed virtues to renovate the life of those 
who should bathe in its stream, or to give a perpetuity" of youth 
to the happy man who should drink of its ever-flowing waters. 

4. So universal was this tradition", that it was credited in 
Spain, not by all the people and the court only, but by those 
who were distinguished for virtue and intelligence. Nature 
was to discover the secrets for which alchemy" had toiled in 
vain, and the elixir" of life was to flow from a perpetual foun- 
tain of the New World, in the midst of a country glittering 
with gems and gold. 



1512.] Discoveries and Explorations. 2 5 

5. Ponce embarked at Porto Eico, with a squadron Y of three ■ 
ships, fitted out at his own expense, for his voyage to fairy- 
land. He touched at Guanahani; he sailed among the Baha- 
mas ; but the laws of nature remained inexorable v . On Easter 
Sunday, which the Spaniards call Pasoua Florida, land was 
seen. It was supposed to be an island, and received the name 
of Florida, from the day on which it was discovered, and from 
the aspect of the forests, which were then brilliant with a 
profusion of blossoms, and gay with the fresh verdure of early 
spring. 

6. Bad weather would not allow the squadron to approach 
land : at length the aged soldier was able to go on shore, in the 
latitude of thirty degrees and eight minutes ; some miles, there- 
fore, to the north of St. Augustine. The territory was claimed 
for Spain. Ponce remained for many weeks to investigate the 
coast which he had discovered, though the currents of the gulf- 
stream, and the islands, between which the channel was yet 
unknown, threatened shipwreck. 

7. He doubled Cape Florida ; he sailed among the Tortugas ; 
and, despairing of entire success, he returned to Porto Eico, 
leaving a trusty follower to continue the research. The Indians 
had everywhere displayed a determined hostility. Ponce de 
Leon remained an old man ; but Spanish commerce acquired a 
new channel through the Gulf of Florida, and Spain a new 
province, which imagination could esteem immeasurably rich, 
since its interior was unknown. 

8. The government of Florida was the reward which Ponce 
received from the king of Spain ; but the dignity was accom- 
panied with the onerous v condition, that he should colonize 
the country which he was appointed to rule. Preparations in 
Spain, and an expedition against the Caribbee Indians, delayed 
his return to Florida. When, after a long interval, he pro- 
ceeded with two ships to take possession of his province, and 
select a site for a colony, his company was attacked by the 
Indians with implacable v fury, 

9. Many Spaniards were killed ; the survivors were forced to 
hurry to their ships ; Ponce de Leon himself, mortally wounded 



26 The United States Reader. [1513. 

by an arrow, returned to Cuba to die. So ended the adven- 
turer, who had coveted immeasurable wealth, and had hoped 
for perpetual youth. The discoverer of Florida had desired 
immortality on earth, and gained its shadow. — History of the 
United States. 

Expedition of Balboa.-— In 1513, Balboa,* the governor of the 
Spanish colony at the Isthmus of Darien, the first colony established on the 
American continent, while crossing the isthmus, gained the summit of a 
mountain from which he discovered the Pacific Ocean. After falling upon his 
knees and thanking God for the. privilege of being the discoverer of this great 
ocean, he descended to the sea-shore and took possession of the whole coast 
in the name of the Spanish crown. 

Discovery of the Pacific Ocean. — Irving. 

1. This was indeed one of the most sublime discoveries that 
had yet been made in the New World, and must have opened a 
boundless field of conjecture to the wondering Spaniards. The 
imagination delights to picture forth the splendid confusion of 
their thoughts. *Was this the great Indian Ocean, studded with 
precious islands, abounding in gold, in gems, and spices, and 
bordered by the gorgeous cities and wealthy marts of the East ? 
Or was it some lonely sea, locked up in the embraces of savage, 
uncultivated continents, and never traversed by a bark, except- 
ing the light pirogue v of the savage ? 

2. The latter could hardly be the case, for the natives had 
told the Spaniards of golden realms, and populous, and pow- 
erful, and luxurious nations upon its shores. Perhaps it might 
be bordered by various people, civilized in fact, though differing 
from Europe in their civilization ; who might have peculiar 
laws and customs, and arts and sciences; who might form, as 
it were, a world of their own, intercommuning by this mighty 
sea, and carrying on commerce between their own islands and 
continents ; but who might exist in total ignorance and in- 
dependence of the other hemisphere. — Companions of Columbus. 

* Vasco Nunez de Balboa was born in Spain, in 1475. Having been superseded in the governorship 
of the colony at Darien, and afterward charged by the new governor with the design of making other 
discoveries without authority, he was tried and found guilty. Although he persisted that he was un- 
justly condemned, he was beheaded in conformity with the sentence, in 1517. 



1519.] Discoveries and Explorations . 2 J 

De Ayllon? S Expedition. — About the time of De Leon's defeat " 
in Florida, De Ayllon (da ile-yone), a Spanish adventurer, was engaged in 
an enterprise having for its object the procuring of a large number of Indians 
to work the plantations and mines of St. Domingo (do-ming'go). At a place 
in the southern part of South Carolina, a great number of natives were treach" 
erously captured ; but the undertaking proved unsuccessful, for of the two ves- 
sels employed, one was lost while on the return to St. Domingo, and many of 
the captives in the other sickened and died. 

It was not many months after this unprofitable speculation that De Ayllon 
obtained the appointment as governor of Chicora (che-ko'rak), the name given 
to that part of Carolina which he had visited, and he wasted his fortune in fit- 
ting out an expedition to conquer the country. The issue of this second enter- 
prise was likewise disastrous : one of his ships, the lai-gest and best, was 
stranded and lost ; many of his men were killed by the natives, in revenge for 
the treachery which he had previously been guilty of; and he himself barely 
succeeded in making good his escape. 

Discover!/ and Conquest of Mexico.— In 1517, Cordova, a 
Spanish navigator, sailed from Cuba and discovered the northern coast of Yu- 
catan. Upon his return he gave such a favorable account of the civilization and 
riches of the people whom he had seen, as to awaken a' keen desire among the 
Spaniards to undertake their conquest. Accordingly the governor of Cuba 
sent an expedition under the direction of Grijalva (gre-hahl'vah), the result of 
which was very satisfactory. Grijalva, after an exploration of the southern 
coast of Mexico, returned with a large amount of treasure, obtained by traf- 
ficking with the natives. 

The governor then, determining to conquer the Mexicans and get possession 
of their wealth, sent an expedition, consisting of eleven vessels and more than 
six hundred armed men, under the command of Cort'ez. Cortez landed, in 
1519, near Vera Cruz (vurah kroose), and was at once met by friendly deputa- 
tions from Montezuma (mon-ta-thoo' mah), the Mexican emperor. By perse- 
verance and a course of falsehood and duplicity, he succeeded in reaching the 
city of Mexico, the Indian capital ; and by stratagem and boldness, and with 
the aid of Indian tribes opposed to the Mexican rule, finally completed the 
conquest of the people, and Mexico became a province of Spain in 1521. 

Boldness of Cortez. — Prescott. 

1. There were timid spirits in the camp on whom Cortez 
conld not rely, and who, he feared, - might spread the seeds of 
disaffection among their companions. Even the more resolute, 
on any occasion of disgust or disappointments hereafter, might 
falter in purpose, and, getting possession of the vessels, abandon 
the enterprise. This was already too vast, and. the odds were 



28 The United States Reader. [is 19. 

too formidable, to authorize expectation of success with dimi- 
nution of numbers. Experience showed that this was always 
to be apprehended, while means of escape were at hand. The 
best chance for success was to cut off these means. He came to 
the daring resolution to destroy the fleet, without the know- 
ledge of his army. 

2. When arrived at Cempoalla, he communicated his design 
to a few of his devoted adherents, who entered warmly into his 
views. Through them he readily persuaded the pilots, by means 
of those golden arguments which weigh more than any other 
with ordinary minds, to make such a report of the condition 
of the fleet as suited his purpose. The ships, they said, were 
grievously racked by the heavy gales they had encountered ; and, 
what was worse, the worms had eaten into their sides and bot- 
toms until most of them were not sea-worthy, and some, 
indeed, could scarcely now be kept afloat. 

3. Cortez received the communication with surprise ; " for 
he could well dissemble," observes Las Casas, with his usual 
friendly comment, " when it suited his interests." " If it be 
so," he exclaimed, " we must make the best of it : Heaven's 
will be done!" He then ordered five of the worst conditioned 
to be dismantled, their cordage, sails, iron, and whatever was 
movable, to be brought on shore, and the ships to be sunk. A 
Survey was made of the others, and, on a similar report, four 
more were condemned in the same manner. Only one small ves- 
sel remained. 

4. When the intelligence reached the troops in Cempoalla, it 
caused the deepest consternation'. They saw r themselves cut 
off by a single blow from friends, family, and country! The 
stoutest hearts quailed before the prospect of being thus aban- 
doned, on a hostile shore, a handful of men arrayed against a 
formidable' empire. When the news arrived of the destruction 
of the five vessels first condemned, they had acquiesced in it as 
a necessary measure, knowing the mischievous activity of the 
insects in these tropical seas ; but, when this w T as followed by 
the loss of the remaining four, suspicions of the truth flashed 
on their minds. They felt they were betrayed. Murmurs, at 



1519.] Discoveries and Explorations. 29 

first deep, swelled louder and louder, menacing open mutiny, 
" Their general."' they said, " had led them like cattle to be 
butchered in the shambles''." The affair wore a most alarming- 
aspect. In no situation was Cortez ever exposed to greater 
danger from his soldiers. 

5. His presence of mind did not desert him at this crisis. 
He called his men together, and, employing the tones of per- 
suasion rather than authority, assured them that a survey of 
the ships showed that they were not fit for service. If he had. 
ordered them to be destroyed, they should consider, also, that 
his was the greatest sacrifice, for they were his property — all, 
indeed, he possessed in the world. The troops, on the other 
hand, would derive one great advantage from it, by the addition 
of a hundred able-bodied recruits, before required to man the 
vessels. But, even if the fleet had been saved, it could have 
been of little service in their present expedition; since they 
would not need it if they succeeded, while they would be too 
far in the interior to profit by it if they failed. 

6. He besought them to turn their thoughts in another direc- 
tion. To be thus calculating chances and means of escape was 
unworthy of brave souls. They had set their hands to the work; 
to look back, as they advanced, would be their ruin. They had 
only to resume their former confidence in themselves and their 
general, and success was certain. " As for me," he concluded, " I 
have chosen my part. I will remain here, while there is any 
one to bear me company. If there be any so craven as to shrink 
from sharing the dangers of our glorious enterprise, let them go 
home, in God's name. There is still one vessel left. Let them 
take that and return to Cuba. They can tell there how they 
have deserted their commander and their comrades, and pa- 
tiently wait till we return loaded with the spoil of the Aztecs." 

7. The politic 7 orator had touched the right chord in the 
bosoms of the soldiers. As he spoke, their resentment gradually 
died away. The faded visions of future riches and glory, rekin- 
dled by his eloquence, again floated before their imaginations. 
The first shock over, they felt ashamed of their temporary dis- 
trust. Their enthusiasm for their leader revived, for they felt 



30 The United States Reader. [1528. 

that under his banner only they could hope for victory ; and, as 
he concluded, they testified the revnlsioir of their feelings by 
making the air ring with their shouts, " To Mexico ! To 
Mexico!" 

8. The destruction of his fleet by Cortez is, perhaps, the 
most remarkable passage in the life of this remarkable man. 
History, indeed, affords examples of a similar expedient in 
emergencies somewhat similar : but none where the chances 
of success were so precarious v , and defeat would be so disastrous. 
Had he failed, it might well seem an act of madness. Yet it 
was the fruit of deliberate calculation. He had set fortune, 
fame, life itself, all upon the cast, and must abide the issue. 
There was no alternative in his mind, but to succeed or perish. 
The measure he adopted greatly increased the chance of success. 
But to carry it into execution, in the face of an incensed and 
desperate soldiery, was an act of resolution that has few paral- 
lels in history. — History of the Conquest of Mexico.. 

Expedition of Narvaez. — In 1528, Narvaez (nar-vah'eth), having 
been appointed governor of Florida by the Spanish sovereign, sailed from Cuba 
to conquer and possess the country. The attempt proved most disastrous; 
for, of the three hundred men who landed in Florida and penetrated the wild 
regions, only four, after years of wandering, succeeded in reaching a Spanish 
settlement in Mexico. 

Expedition of De Soto. — Tarkman. 

1. Hernando De Soto had been the companion of Pizarro in 
the conquest of Peru. He had come to America a needy 
adventurer, with no other fortune than his sword and target ; 
but his exploits had given him fame and fortune, and he 
appeared at court with the retinue v of a nobleman. Still his 
active energies could not endure repose, and his avarice and 
ambition goaded him to fresh enterprises. He asked and ob- 
tained permission to concpier Florida. 

2. While this design was in agitation, Caheca de Vaca, one 
of those who had survived the expedition of Narvaez, appeared 
in Spain, and for purposes of his own spread abroad the mis- 
chievous falsehood, that Florida was the richest country yet 



1539.] Discoveries and Explorations. 31 

discovered. De. Soto's plans were embraced with enthusiasm. 
Nobles and gentlemen contended for the privilege of joining 
his standard: and, setting sail with an ample armament*, he 
landed at the Bay of Espiritu Santo, now Tampa Bay, in 
Florida, with six hundred and twenty chosen men, — a band as 
gallant and well appointed, as eager in purpose, and audacious 
in hope, as ever trod the shores of the New World. 

3. The clangor v of trumpets, the neighing of horses, the 
fluttering of pennons, the glittering of helmet and lance, 
startled the ancient forest with unwonted greeting. Amid this 
pomp of chivalry, religion was not forgotten. The sacred 
vessels and vestments, with bread and wine for the Eucharist v , 
were carefully provided; and De Soto himself declared that 
the enterprise w T as undertaken for God alone, and seemed to be 
the object of His especial care. These devout marauders v could 
not neglect the spiritual welfare of the Indians whom they had 
come to plunder; and besides fetters to bind and bloodhounds 
to hunt them, they brought priests and monks for the saving 
of their souls. 

' 4. The adventurers began their march (1539). Their story 
has been often told. For month after month, and year after 
year, the procession of priests and cavaliers v , cross-bowmen, 
arquebusiers v , and Indian captives laden with the baggage, still 
wandered on through wild and boundless wastes, lured hither 
and thither by the ignis-fatuus 7 of their hopes. They traversed 
great portions of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, everywhere 
inflicting and enduring misery, but never approaching their 
phantom 7 El Dorado. At length, in the third year of their 
journeying, they reached the banks of the Mississippi (1541), a 
hundred and thirty-two years before its second discovery by 
Marquette. One of their number describes the great river as 
almost half a league wide, deep, rapid, and constantly rolling 
dowai trees and drift-wood on its turbid v current. 

5. The Spaniards crossed over at a point above the mouth of 

the Arkansas. They advanced westward, but found no tr'eas. 

ures, nothing, indeed, but hardships, and an Indian enemy, 

furious, w r rites one of their officers, " as mad dogs." They heard 

2* 



32 Tha United States Reader. [1542. 

— — _ . 

of a country toward the north where maize could not be culti- 
vated, because the vast herds of wild cattle devoured it. They 
penetrated so far, that they entered the range of the roving prai- 
rie tribes ; for, one day, as they pushed their way with difficulty 
across great plains covered with tall, rank grass, they met a 
band of savages, who dwelt in lodges of skins sewed together, 
subsisting on game alone, and wandering perpetually from 
place to place. Finding neither gold nor the South Sea, for 
both of which they had hoped, they returned to the banks of 
the Mississippi. 

6. De Soto, says one of those who accompanied him, was a 
" stern man, and of few words." Even in the midst of reverses, 
his will had been law to his followers, and he had sustained 
himself through the depths of disappointment with the energy 
of a stubborn pride. But his hour was come. He fell into 
deep dejection, followed by an attack of fever, and soon after 
died miserably. To preserve his body from the Indians, his 
followers sank it at midnight in the river, and the sullen waters 
of the Mississippi buried his ambition and his hopes. 

7. The adventurers were now, with few exceptions, disguste'd 
with the enterprise, and longed only to escape from the scene 
of their miseries. After a vain attempt to reach Mexico by 
land, they again turned back to the Mississippi, and labored, 
with all the resources which their desperate necessity could sug- 
gest, to construct vessels in which they might make their way 
to some Christian "settlement. Their condition was most for- 
lorn. Few of their horses now. remained alive ; their baggage 
had been destroyed at the burning of the Indian town of Ma- 
vila, and many of the soldiers were without armor and without 
weapons. In place of the gallant array which, more than three 
years before, had left the harbor of Espiritu Santo, a company 
of sickly and starving men were laboring among the swampy 
forests of the Mississippi, some clad in skins, and some in mats 
woven from a kind of wild vine. 

8. Seven brigantines v were finished and launched; and trust- 
ing their lives on board these frail vessels, they descended the 
Mississippi, running the gauntlet v between hostile tribes who 



[1565. Discoveries and Explorations. 33 

fiercely attacked them. Reaching the Gulf, though not with- 
out the loss of eleven of their number, they made sail for the 
Spanish settlement on the Payer Pauuco, where they arrived 
safely, and where the inhabitants met them with a cordial wel- 
come. Three hundred and eleven men thus escaped with life, 
leaving behind them the bones of their comrades strewn broad- 
cast through the wilderness. — Pioneers of France in the Neio 
World. 

Explorations hy the French. — In 1524, Verrazzani (va-rat-tsah'ne), 
a Florentine navigator, while sailing in the service of France, explored the 
coast of North America from the Carolinas to Newfoundland (new'fund-lamT). 
To the whole region thus explored he gave the name of New Fiance, a name 
which was afterwards restricted to the territory of Canada, and so retained 
while that country remained in the possession of the French. 

No other explorations were made by the French until 1534. In that year 
and the following, James Carrier* {car-te-u') made two successful voyages, dis- 
covered the river St. Lawrence, explored its banks, and took possession of the 
whole country in the name of his king. Though Carrier and the Lord of Ro- 
bcrval (ro-bare-val'), some years after, undertook to colonize Canada, the French 
effected no permanent settlement until one was made on the site of Quebec, in 
1608, by Champlain. 

This was not, however, the first settlement made by the French in America, 
Port Royal (now Annap'olis, in Nova Scotia) having been settled three years 
previously (1605). This, was the principal settlement in Acadia, a territory 
claimed by the French, and embracing, at that time, New Brunswick, Nova 
Scotia, and adjacent islands. 

Settlement of Florida, — TheFrench Protestants, or Huguenots, as 
they were called, desiring to have in America a place of refuge, with the permis- 
sion of King Charles, and aided by the celebrated Coligny (ko-leen-ye 1 ), made 
two attempts to establish a colony — one at Port Royal entrance, Carolina, in 
1562, and the other on the banks of the St. John's River, Florida; "in 1564. The 
settlers of 1562 built a fort, to which they gave the mime of Carolina, in honor 
of Charles ( Carolus, in Latin), their king. Twenty-six men were left to keep 
possession of the country, while the others, with John Ribault (rc-bo), their 
commander, returned to France for re-enforcements ; but the promised aid not 
arriving, the colonists, in despair, embarked for their native land. 

Spain, thinking that the settlement on the St. John's was an encroachment 
on her .rights, commissioned Melendez (mulen'deth) to destroy it. After lay-. 
ing the foundation of St. Augustine (1565) Melendez proceeded against the 



* Cartier was born at St. Maio, France, in M9±. The time of his death is not known, though it is 
supposed he lived to an advanced age. 



34 The United States Reader. [i6os. 

Huguenots, whom he surprised and massacred. In revenge, De Gourgues 
(goorg), of France, two years afterward surprised the Spanish forts on the St. 
John's, and hung two hundred captives upon the trees. 

Discovery of Lake Champlain.— Barhman. 

1. During the autumn (1608), a young chief from the banks 
of the then unknown Ottawa, had been at Quebec ; and, amazed 
at what he saw, had begged Champlain to join him in the 
spring against his enemies. These enemies were a formidable 
race of savages, the Iroquois, or Five Confederate Nations, 
dwellers in fortified villages within limits now embraced by the 
State of New York, to whom was afterwards given the fanciful 
name of " Romans of the New World,'' and who even then were 
a terror to all the surrounding forests. Conspicuous among 
their enemies were their kindred, the tribes of the Hurons, 
dwelling on the lake which bears their name, and allies of Al- 
gonquin bands on the Ottawa. All alike were tillers of the soil, 
living at ease, when compared to the famished Algonquins of 
the lower St. Lawrence. 

[To tliis request, Champlain, whose spirit was singularly bold and adven- 
turous, and who seems to have had an insatiable desire for exploration, acceded. 
Accordingly, during the month of May, 1G09, he set out with his Indian allies 
on the war-path. From Quebec they sailed up the St. Lawrence to the Sorel, 
sometimes called the Richelieu or St. John, which they entered and ascended. 
The narrative is thus continued by Parkman.} 

2. Again the canoes advanced, the river widening as they 
went. Great islands appeared, leagues in extent, and channels 
where ships might float, and broad reaches of expanding water 
stretched between them, and Champlain entered the lake which 
preserves his name to posterity. Cumberland Head was passed, 
and from the opening of the great channel between Grand Isle 
and the main, he could look forth on the wilderness sea. Edged 
with woods, the tranquil flood spread southward beyond the 
sight. 

3. Far on the left, the forest ridges of the Green Mountains 
were heaved against the sun, patches of snow still glistening 
on their tops ; and on the right rose the Adirondacks, haunts, 



1609.] Discoveries and Explorations. 35 

in these later years, of amateur" sportsmen from counting-rooms 
or college-halls, nay, of adventurous beauty, with sketch-book 
and pencil. Then the Iroquois made them their hunting-ground ; 
and beyond, in the valleys of the Mohawk, the Onondaga, and 
the Genesee, stretched the long line of their five cantons, and 
palisaded 7 towns. 

4. At night they were encamped again. The scene is a 
familiar one to many a tourist* and sportsman ; and, perhaps, 
standing at sunset on the peaceful strand, Champlain saw what 
a roving student of this generation has seen on those same shores, 
at that same hour, — the glow of the vanished sun behind the 
western mountains, darkly piled in mist and shadow along the 
sky; near at hand, the dead pine, mighty in decay, stretching its 
ragged arms athwart the burning heaven, the crow perched on 
its top like an image carved in jet; and aloft, the night-hawk, ' 
circling in its flight, and, with a strange whirring sound, diving- 
through the air each moment for the insects he makes his prey. 

5. The progress of the party was becoming dangerous. They 
changed their mode of advance, and moved only in the night. 
All day they lay close in the depths of the forest, sleeping, 
lounging, smoking tobacco of their own raising, and beguiling 
the hours with the shallow banter and jesting with which 
knots of Indians are w r ont to amuse their leisure. At twilight 
they embarked again, paddling their cautious way, till the east- 
ern sky began to redden. Their goal was the rocky promontory 
where Fort Ticonderoga was long afterward built. 

6. Thence, they would pass the outlet of Lake George, and 
launch their canoes again on that Como of the wilderness, wdiose 
waters, limpid as a fountain-head, stretched far southward, 
between their flanking mountains. Landing at the future site 
of Fort William Henry, they would carry their canoes through 
the forest to the river Hudson,* and descending it, attack, 
perhaps, some outlying town of the Mohawks. In the next 
century, this chain of lakes and rivers became the grand high- 
way of savage and civilized war, — a bloody debatable ground, 
linked to memories of momentous conflicts. 

* Discovered the same year (1609;, by Henry Hudson ; previously called the Shatemuc. 



36 The United States Reader. [igoo. 

7. The allies were spared so long- a progress. On the morn- 
ing of the twenty-ninth of July, after paddling all night, they 
hid, as usual, in the forest on the western shore, not far from 
Crown Point. The warriors stretched themselves to their 
slumbers, and Champlain, after walking for a time through the 
surrounding woods, returned to take his repose on a pit of 
spruce-boughs. Sleeping, he dreamed a dream, wherein he' 
beheld the Iroquois drowning in the lake; and, essaying to 
rescue them, he was told by his Algonquin friends that they 
were good for nothing, and had better be left to their fate. 
Now, he had been daily beset, on awakening, by his superstitious 
allies, eager to learn about his dreams; and, to this moment, 
his unbroken slumbers had failed to furnish the desired prog- 
nostics v . The announcement of this auspicious v vision filled 
the crowd with joy, and at nightfall they embarked, flushed 
With anticipated victories. 

8. It was ten o'clock in the evening when they descried dark 
objects in motion on the lake before them. These were a flotilla 
of Iroquois canoes, heavier and slower than theirs, for they were 
made of oak-bark. Each party saw the other, and the mingled 
war-cries pealed over the darkened water. The Iroquois, who 
were near the shore, having no stomach for an aquatic battle, 
landed, and making night hideous with their clamors, began to 
barricade v themselves. Champlain could see them in the woods, 
laboring like beavers, hacking down trees with iron axes taken 
from the Canadian tribes in war, and with stone hatchets of 
their own making. 

9. The allies remained on the lake, a bowshot from the 
hostile barricade, their canoes made fast together by poles lashed 
across. All night they danced with as much vigor as the frailty 
of their vessels w r ould permit, their throats making amends for 
the enforced restraint of their limbs. It was agreed on both 
sides that the fight should be deferred till daybreak; but, 
meanwhile a commerce of abuse, sarcasm, menace, and boasting 
gave increasing exercise to the lungs and fancy of the combat- 
ants, — "much/' says Champlain, "like the besiegers and be- 
sieged in a beleaguered' town." 



1609.] Discoveries and Explorations. $7 

10. As day approached, lie and his two followers put on the 

light armor of the time. Champlain wore the doublet'' and 
long hose then in vogue. Over the doublet he buckled on a 
breastplate, and probably a back-piece, while his thighs were 
protected by (misses' of steel, and his head by a plumed casque v . 
Across his shoulder hung the strap of his bandoleer*, or ammu- 
nition-box; at his side was his sword, and in his hand his 
arquebuse v , which he had loaded with four balls. Such was the 
equipment of this ancient Indian fighter, whose exploits date 
eleven years before the landing of the Puritans at Plymouth, 
and sixty-six years before King Philip's War. 

11. Each of the three Frenchmen was in a separate canoe ; 
and, as it grew light, they kept themselves hidden, either by 
lying at the bottom, or covering themselves with an Indian 
robe. The canoes approached the shore, and all landed without 
opposition, at some distance from the Iroquois, whom they pres- 
ently could see filing out of their barricade, tall, strong men, 
some two hundred in number, of the boldest and fiercest war- 
riors of Xorth America. They advanced through the forest 
with a steadiness which excited the admiration of Champlain. 
Among them could be seen several chiefs, made conspicuous 
by their tall pinnies. Some bore shields of wood and hide, and 
some were covered with a kind of armor made of tough twigs 
interlaced 7 with a vegetable fibre supposed by Champlain to be 
cotton. 

12. The allies, growing anxious, called with loud cries for 
their champion, and opened their ranks tnat he might pass to 
the front. He did so, and, advancing before his red compan- 
ions-in-arms, stood revealed to the astonished gaze of the 
Iroquois, who, beholding the warlike apparition 7 in their path, 
stared in mute amazement. But his arquebuse was leveled- 
the report startled the woods, a chief fell dead, and another by 
his side rolled among the bushes. Then there arose from the 
allies a yell, which, says Champlain, would " have drowned a 
thunder-clap/' and the forest was full of whizzing arrows. 

13. For a moment the Iroquois stood firm, and sent back 
their arrows lustily ; but when another and another gunshot 



38 The United States Reader. [1609. 

came from the thickets on their flank, they broke and fled in 
uncontrollable terror. Swifter than hounds, the allies tore 
through the bushes in pursuit. Some of the Iroquois were 
killed, more "were taken. Camp, canoes, provisions, all were 
abandoned, and many weapons flung down in the panic 
flight. The arquebuse had done its work. The victory was 

complete 

14. Thus did Xew France rush into collision with the re- 
doubted warriors of the Five Nations. Here was the begin- 
ning, in some measure, doubtless, the cause, of a long suite of 
murderous conflicts, bearing havoc and flame to generations 
yet unborn. Champlain had invaded the tiger's den ; and now, 
in smothered fury, the patient savage would lie, biding his day 
of blood. — Pioneers of France in the New World. 

The American Indians. — Ilildreth. 

1. At the period of European discovery, this vast and un- 
known country, lying as yet in a state of nature, hardly modi- 
fled at all by the hand of man, was thinly inhabited by a pecu- 
liar race, known to Europeans under the general name of 
IKDIAN8 — a name which still commemorates v the error of 
Columbus in mistaking America for a part of India. 

2. Presenting human society under its simplest and most 
inartificial forms, these aboriginal inhabitants were divided into 
a great number of petty tribes, dwelling together in little vil- 
lages of huts, made with the boughs of trees, and covered with 
mats ingeniously woven. These villages, by way of defence, were 
sometimes surrounded by a rude palisade of trees or brushwood, 
or placed on some little islet in the midst of a morass v . For 
convenience of fishing, they were often built on inlets of the sea, 
or near the falls of some river. Each village had chiefs of its 
own, who were often hereditary*. The petty tribes w r ere gener- 
ally united into confederacies* of greater or less extent, with 
superior chiefs exercising a certain authority over the wdiole. 

3. Neighboring confederacies sometimes spoke languages rad- 
ically distinct; yet the dialects v of all. the tribes north of the 
Gulf of Mexico, and south of Hudson's Bay, from the Atlantic 



Discoveries and Explorations. 39 

to the Rocky Mountains, are thought by philologists'' capable, " 
with few exceptions, of being reduced under five general heads. 

4. The most widely-diffused of these five languages, called 
the Algonquin, after one of the tribes of Canada, from whom 
the French missionaries first learned it, is exceedingly harsh 
and guttural*, with few vowels, and words often of intolerable 
length, occasioned by complicated grammatical forms — a whole 
sentence, by means of suffixes'' and affixes v , being often ex- 
pressed in a single word. This character, indeed, is common 
in a greater or less degree, to all the American languages, serv- 
ing to distinguish them, in a remarkable manner, from the 
dialects of the Old World. 

5. Tribes of Algonquin speech extended from Hudson's Bay 
southeast beyond the Chesapeake, and southwest to the Mis- 
sissippi and Ohio. They inclosed, however, several formidable 
confederacies, the Harons, the Iroquois (ee'ro-quali), the Fries, 
and others settled around Lakes Erie and Ontario, and occupy- 
ing all the upper waters of the western tributaries of the Ches- 
apeake, who spoke a different language, less guttural and far 
more sonorous v , called the Wyandot, after a tribe inhabiting 
the north shore of Lake Erie, 

6. The Cherokee' is peculiar to a confederacy of that name, 
occupants for centuries of the southern valleys of the great 
Alleghany chain, from whence they have been but lately ex- 
pelled. The common name of Mobilian includes the kindred 
dialects of the Choctaws, the Chickasaws, the Creeks or Mus- 
cogees, the Appalachees, and Yemassees, — ancient inhabitants 
of the valley of the Lower Mississippi, and thence, by the 
southern foot of the Alleghanies, to the Savannah and beyond 
it. Compared with the northern languages, the Cherokee and 
Mobilian are soft and musical, abounding with vowels, thus 
indicating the long-continued influence of a southern climate. 
The number of syllables in the Cherokee is very limited — a 
circumstance of which an uninstructed but ingenious member 
of that tribe recently availed himself to invent a syllabic alpha- 
bet, by means of which the Cherokee is written and read with 
great facility. 



40 The United States Reader. 

7. Of the ancient state of the wandering tribes of the prairies 
west of the Mississippi little is known ; but the Daco'tah or 
Sioux (soo), still spoken in a great variety of dialects, has been, 
probably for centuries, the prevailing language of that region. 
The Catawbas, who have left their name to a river of Carolina, 
and who once occupied a wide adjacent territory; the Uc Iters, 
on the Savannah, subjects of the Creeks ; the Natchez, a small 
confederacy on the Lower Mississippi, in the midst of the Choc- 
taws, appear to have spoken peculiar languages ; and, no doubt, 
there were other similar cases. ' Of the dialects west of the 
Rocky Mountains hardly anything is known. 

8. It is from their languages only that some faint trace may 
be obtained of the derivation and wandering of the American 
tribes. Other monuments they had none. Their sole records 
were a few rude drawings on skins or bark, or, among some 
tribes, belts of beads made of shells, and used to commemorate 
their treaties. Of any period beyond the memory of their old 
men, they knew absolutely nothing. They had, indeed, some 
vague traditions, important, if we had them in a pure version, 
not however for their historical character, but as illustrating 
the ideas of the Indians, and the process by which legends are 
everywhere formed. But these traditions, early modified by 
suggestions borrowed from the white men, come to us so colored 
by the fancies and preconceived? opinions of those who report 
them, as to lose a great part of the value they might otherwise 
have had 

9. War was esteemed among the Indians, as it has been 
among communities far more civilized, the most honorable, 
glorious, and worthy of employments. The rank or compara- 
tive estimation of the chiefs greatly depended on the number 
of enemies they had slain in battle. Their warlike spirit was 
little, or not at all, stimulated by hopes of conquest or plunder. 
It was the fury of hatred or revenge, the restless spirit of enter- 
prise, still more the desire of honor and distinction, that stirred 
up the warriors to deeds of blood. On their return from a suc- 
cessful expedition, they expected to be met and escorted back 
to the village amid the plaudits of the women and children, 



Discoveries and Explorations. 41 

bearing with them the captives taken, and the scalps of the 
slain stretched on poles — obscure rudiments of what the 
Romans called a triumph. 

1$, In their primitive' state^pitched battles or general engage- 
ments were unknown among the Indians. Surprise was the 
great point of their tactics. As the warriors were obliged to 
carry their provisions on their backs, or to support themselves 
by limiting, their war parties were seldom numerous. Yet 
their ardor was great. To reach some distant village, they 
crossed mountains, swam rivers, and endured the utmost ex- 
tremities of hunger and fatigue. But, though capable of mo- 
mentary efforts of great vigor, these children of impulse had not 
the pertinacity, nor perseverance, nor fixed purposes, of civilized 
life. Bursts of passionate activity were followed by long intervals 
of indolence. Until they learned of the white man to make war 
on a larger scale, it was the utmost ambition of their warriors 
to steal into the enemy's country, to take a few scalps, and to 
make a few prisoners with the least possible loss to themselves ; 
after which they long remained quiet, unless excited by some 
retaliatory^ inroad, or some fortuitous 7 encounter. 

11. In the first fury of a successful attack, the women and 
children of the hostile village were sometimes indiscriminately 
massacred; but, in general, their lives were spared, and they 
were received by adoption into the families of their captors. 
The hostile warrior, if taken prisoner, was reserved for a hor- 
rid death, being tortured with all .the ingenuity of savage ha- 
tred, and burned at the stake by a slow fire. The women and 
children joined in these torments, and the flesh of the victim 
was sometimes eaten. Such, at least, was the custom of the 
Iroquois, the most war-like and ferocious of all the Xorth 
American tribes ; but there is little trace of such cruel prac- 
tices among the Indians of the Atlantic coast. 

12. It was a point of honor with the dying warrior to endure 
these torments without the slightest flinching or indication of 
pain, shouting out his death -song from among the flames, and 
taunting with his latest breath the unskillfulness of his tor- 
mentors. Yet, even in the midst of these horrors, humanity 



42 The United States Reader. 

sometimes regained dominion. Among the torturing crowd 
some one saw, or thought he saw, in the unhappy victim of 
hate, a resemblance to some relative who had perished in bat- 
. tie. Claimed to supply the place of that relative, the prisoner 
was adopted on the spot as son or brother, and was expected to 
evince his gratitude, and to ratify his adoption, by forgetting 
forever his native tribe and all his former connections. 

13. Next to Avar, it was thought most honorable to excel in 
hunting and fishing. These pursuits, chief resources for food 
and clothing, were followed, each in its season, with patience, 
assiduity, and no little skill. The Indians applied all their sa- 
gacity to the knowledge of wood-craft, which they carried to a 
high degree of perfection. They could trace their game or their 
enemy by the slightest indication — grass bent, leaves trampled, 
or twigs broken. Inferior to Europeans in strength and in 
capacity to perform regular labor, to which they were unaccus- 
tomed, their activity, powers of endurance, and acuteness of 
sight and hearing, were extraordinary. 

14. Guided by the stars and sun, and supported by a little 
parched corn pounded and moistened with water, they per- 
formed, with unerring sagacity, immense journeys through the 
Avoody or grassy wilderness. The habits of almost all the tribes 
Avere more or less migratory v . They kneAV little or nothing of 
the comforts of a settled habitation. They seemed always un- 
easy, always on the point of going somewhere else. Their fre- 
quent journeys had traced, in many places, trails or footpaths 
through the Avoods or across the prairies. It was their custom 
to kindle small tires, by Avhich the grass and underAvood were 
consumed. Except among the SAvamps and rocky hills, the 
forests thus acquired an open and park-like appearance. . . 

15. Such was the state of the aboriginal population Avhen 
North America first became known to Europeans. Yet there 
exist remarkable proofs, scattered through the Avhole extent of 
the Valley of the Mississippi, of the former occupation of that 
region by a far more numerous,* and, in some respects, a dif- 

* It is computed that the total Indian population east of t.ie Alleghanies, at no time since the dis- 
covery of America, exceeded 300,000. 



Discoveries and Explorations. 



ferent people. These memorials consist of embankments of 
earth and stone, exhibiting undeniable evidences of design and 
labor, sometimes of very great extent. Some of them, along 
the brows of hills or the precipitous' edges of ravines, inclosing 
a greater or less space of table-land, were evidently intended as 
works of defense. Others, still more numerous, extensive, and 
elaborate', seem most probably to have been connected with re- 
ligious ideas. 

16. Occupying often the fertile bottoms at the junction of 
rivers (sites selected for towns by the present inhabitants), 
they present in some places curious basso-relievos 7 , birds, beasts, 
reptiles, and even men ; but more generally, in the Valley of 
the Ohio, in closures of various sorts, often curiously compli- 
cated, perfect circles, and perfect squares, and parallel lines of 
great extent, the embankments being from five to thirty feet 
high, and the inclosures from one to fifty, and often a hundred 
or two hundred, and sometimes four hundred acres in extent. 
Other classes of monuments, often connected with these just 
mentioned, but often separate, and increasing in number 
toward the south, are conical and pyramidal'' structures, from a 
few yards to a thousand or two thousand feet in diameter, and 
from ten to ninety feet high, sometimes terraced like the Mexi- 
can teocallis.* Some of these mounds were evidently for sepul- 
chral purposes, and others apparently mounds of sacrifice. 

17. Connected with these ancient monuments have been 
found remnants of pottery, weapons and utensils of stone, axes 
and ornaments of copper, but nothing which affords any deci- 
sive evidence of a state of civilization superior to that of the 
present Indians. Yet the extent and number of these earth 
erections, of which there are but few traces east of the Alle- 
ghanies — the most populous region of Korth America when 
it first became known to Europeans — evince the combined 
labor of many hands, of a sort of which no traces appeared 
among the tribes found in possession by Europeans. — History 
of the United States, 

Teacal'li, meaning House of God. is a term applied to the pyramidal buildings erected for religious 
purposes by the ancient inhabitants of Mexico. 



SECTION II. 
Colonial History. 



VIRGINIA. 

Sir Humphrey Gilbert- s Toy aye. —In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gil- 
bert sailed from England, under a patent granted by Queen Elizabeth. His de« 
sign was to take possession of the northern parts of America, and found a colony 
in Newfoundland. He landed on the island, but, in consequence of disasters, 
no attempt at settlement was made. On the return to England, one of the ships, 
that in which Gilbert sailed, foundered, and all on board perished. 

Voyage of Amidtts and Barlow. — Sir Walter Raleigh (raw'lt), not 
disheartened by the sad fate of his step-brother, Gilbert, obtained from Elizabeth 
an ample patent, and, in 1584, sent two vessels, under the command of Am'i-das 
and Barlow. The voyagers arrived on the coast of Carolina, visited the islands 
in Pam'li-co and Albemarle Sounds, took possession of the country in the name 
of their sovereign, and, after trafficking with the natives, returned to England. 

So glowing an account did Amidas and Barlow give of the country which 
they had seen, that Elizabeth declared the event to be the most glorious in her 
reign, and, as a memorial of her unmarried state, named the region Virginia. 
Upon Raleigh she conferred the honor of knighthood. 

First Attempts at Settlement in Virginia, — Two unsuccess- 
ful attempts were afterward made to establish a colony on Roanoke Island 
(1585-7); and an attempt farther north was made by Barlholomeiv Gosnold, 
who discovered Cape Cod (1602), but failed to effect a settlement. Martin 
Bring the following year explored the coast and large rivers of Maine. In 1606, 
King James I. divided the territory claimed by the English into North and 
South Virginia, granting the former to the Plymouth Company, the latter to 
the London Company. The first permanent settlement under this grant was 
made at Jamestown, in 1607, by an expedition sent out by the London Com- 
pany. This expedition was commanded by Captain Christopher Newport. 

Settlement of Jamestown. — Grahame. 

1. After the lapse of a hundred and ten years from the dis- 
covery of the continent by Cabot, and twenty- two years after 
its first occupation by Raleigh, was the number of English 
colonists limited to a hundred and five ; and this handful of 



160?.] Colonial History. 45 

men undertook the arduous task of peopling a remote and un- 
cultivated land, covered with woods and marshes, and inhabited, 
only by tribes of savages and beasts of prey. Under the sanc- 
tion of a charter which bereaved Englishmen of their most 
valuable rights, and banished from the constitution of American 
society the first principles of liberty, were the foundations laid 
of the colonial greatness of England, and of the freedom and 
prosperity of America. From this period, or at least very 
shortly after, a regular and connected history ensues, of the 
progress of Virginia and New England, the two eldest-born 
colonies, whose example promoted the rise, as their shelter pro- 
tected, the weakness, of the others which were successively 
planted and reared. 

2. Newport and his squadron, pursuing, for some unknown 
reason, the wider compass taken by the first navigators to 
America, instead of the less circuitous 7 track that had been 
recently ascertained, did not accomplish their voyage in a 
shorter period than four months; but its termination was ren- 
dered peculiarly fortunate by the effect of a storm, which 
defeated their purpose of landing and settling at Eoanoke, and 
carried them into the Bay of Chesapeake (April, 1G07). 

3. As they advanced through its waters, they easily perceived 
the advantage that would be gained by establishing their set- 
tlement on the shores of this spacious haven, replenished 7 by 
the tributary 7 floods of so many great rivers, which fertilize the 
soil of that extensive district of America, and, affording com- 
modious inlets into the interior parts, facilitate their foreign 
commerce and mutual communication. 

4. Newport first landed on a promontory 7 forming the south- 
ern boundary of the bay, which, in honor of the Prince of 
Wales, he named Cape Henry. Thence, coasting the southern 
shore, he entered a river which the natives called Powhatan, 
and explored its banks for the space of forty miles from its 
mouth. Impressed with the superior convenience of the coast 
and soil to which they had been thus happily conducted, the 
adventurers unanimously 7 determined to make this the place 
of their abode. They gave to their infant settlement, as well 



46 The United States Reader. 

as to the neighboring river, the name of their king ; and James- 
town retains the distinction of being the oldest existing habi- 
tation of the English in America. 

5. But the dissensions that broke out among the colonists 
soon threatened to deprive them of all the advantages of their 
fortunate territorial position. Their animosities were inflamed 
by an arrangement, which, if it did not originate with the king, 
at least betrays a strong affinity to that ostentatious v mystery 
and driftless artifice which he affected as the perfection of 
political dexterity. The names of the provincial council were 
not communicated to the adventurers when they departed from 
England; but the commission which contained them Avas in- 
closed in a sealed packet, which was directed to be opened 
within twenty-four hours after their arrival on the coast of 
Virginia, when the councillors were to be installed in their office, 
and to elect their own president. 

6. The disagreements incident to along voyage had free scope 
among men unaware of the relations they were to occupy toward 
each other, and of the subordination which their relative and 
allotted functions might imply; and when the names of the 
council wire proclaimed, the disclosure was far from affording 
satisfaction. Captain >Smith, w r hose superior talents and spirit 
excited the envy and jealousy of his colleagues v , was excluded 
from a seat in the council, which the commission authorized 
him to assume, and even accused of traitorous designs, so un- 
proved and improbable, that none less believed the charge than 
the persons who preferred it. 

7. The privation of his counsel and services in the difficul- 
ties of their outset, was a serious loss to the colonists, and might 
have been attended with ruin to the settlement, if his merit 
and generosity had not been superior to their mean injustice. 
The jealous suspicions of the individual who was elected presi- 
dent restrained the use of arms, and discouraged the construc- 
tion of fortifications ; and a misunderstanding having arisen 
with the Indians, the colonists, unprepared for hostilities, suf- 
fered severely from one of the sudden attacks characteristic of 
the warfare of these savages. 



1607.] Colonial History. 47 

, 8. Newport had been ordered to return with the ships to 
England; and, as the time of his departure approached, the 
accusers of Smith, with affected clemency, proposed that he also 
should return with Newport, instead of abiding a criminal 
prosecution in Virginia. But, happily for the colony, he scorned 
so to compromise his integrity ; and, demanding a trial, was 
honorably acquitted, and took his seat in the council. 

9. The fleet was better victualled than the magazines of the 
colony; and while it remained with them, the colonists were 
permitted to share the plenty enjoyed by the sailors. But 
when Newport set sail for England, they found themselves 
limited to scanty supplies of unwholesome provisions ; and the 
sultry heat of the climate and moisture of a country overgrown 
with wood, co-operating' with the defects of their diet, brought 
on diseases that raged with fatal violence. Before the month 
of September, one half of their number had miserably perished ; 
and among these victims was Bartholomew Gosnold, who had 
planned the expedition, and materially contributed to its accom- 
plishment. 

10. This scene of suffering was embittered by internal dis- 
sensions. The president was accused of embezzling v the public 
stores, and finally detected in an attempt to seize a pinnace', 
and escape from the colony and its calamities. At length, in 
the extremity of their distress, when ruin seemed to impend, 
alike from famine and the fury of the savages, the colonists 
obtained a complete and unexpected deliverance, which the 
piety of Smith ascribed to the influence of God, in suspending 
the passions, and controlling the sentiments and purposes of 
men. The savages, actuated by a sudden and generous change 
of feeling, not only refrained from molesting them, but gratu- 
itously brought them a supply of provisions so liberal, as at 
once to dissipate their apprehensions of famine and hostility. 

11. Eesuming their spirit, the colonists now proved them- 
selves not wholly uninstructecl by their misfortunes. In seasons 
of exigency' merit is illustrated, and the envy that pursues it 
is absorbed by deeper interest and alarm. The sense of com- 
mon and urgent danger promoted a willing and even eager 

3 



48 The Uiiited States Reader. [1607. 

submission to a man whose talents were most likely to extri- 
cate* his companions from the difficulties with which they were 
encompassed. Every eye was now turned on Smith, and with 
universal acclaim his fellow-colonists devolved on him the 
authority which they had formerly shown so much jealousy of 
his acquiring. 

12. This individual, whose name will be forever associated 
with the foundation of civilized society in America, was de- 
scended from a respectable family in Lincolnshire, and born to 
a competent fortune. At an early age, his lively mind was 
deeply smitten with the spirit of adventure that prevailed so 
strongly in England during the reign of Elizabeth ; and yield- 
ing to his inclination, he had passed through a great variety of 
military service, with little pecuniary* gain but high reputation, 
and with the acquisition of an experience the more valuable 
that it was obtained without exhausting his ardor or tainting 
his morals. 

13. The vigor of his constitution had preserved his health 
unimpaired amid the general sickness; the undaunted mettle 
of his soul retained his spirits unbroken and his judgment 
unclouded, amidst the general misery and dejection ; and his 
adventurous zeal, which once attracted the reproach of over- 
ween ing v ambition, was now felt to diffuse an animating glow 
of hope and courage among all around him. A strong sense 
of religion predominated'' over the well-proportioned qualities 
of his mind, refreshed his confidence, extended and yet regu- 
lated his views, and gave dignity to his character and consist- 
ency to his conduct. 

14. Assuming the direction of the affairs of the colonists, he 
promptly adopted the only policy that could save them from 
destruction. Under his directions, Jamestown was fortified by 
such defences as were sufficient to repel the attacks of the sav- 
ages; and by dint of great labor, which he was always the fore- 
most to partake, its inhabitants were provided with dwellings 
that afforded shelter from the weather, and contributed to 
restore and preserve their health. Finding the supplies of the 
savages discontinued, he put himself at the head of a detach- 



1607.] Colonial History. 49 

ment of his people, and penetrated into the interior of the 
country, where, by courtesy and liberality to the tribes whom 
he found well-disposed, and vigorous retribution v of the hostil- 
ity of such as were otherwise minded, he succeeded in procur- 
ing a plentiful stock of provisions. 

15. In the midst of his successes, he was surprised during an 
expedition by a band of hostile savages, who, having made him 
prisoner, after a gallant and nearly successful defense, prepared 
to inflict on him the usual fate of their captives. His genius 
and presence of mind did not desert him in this trying emer- 
gen cy v . He desired to speak with the sachem or chief of the 
tribe to which he was a prisoner ; and presenting him with a 
mariner's compass, expatiated 7 on the wonderful discoveries to 
which this little instrument had contributed, — descanted 7 on 
the shape of the earth, the extent of its lands and oceans, the 
course of the sun, the varieties of nations, and the singularity 
of their relative terrestrial 7 positions, which made some of them 
antipodes 7 to the others. With equal prudence and magnanim- 
ity, he refrained from any expression of solicitude for his life, 
which would have infallibly 7 weakened or counteracted the 
effect which he studied to produce. 

16. The savages listened to him with amazement and admi- 
ration. They had handled the compass, and, viewing with 
surprise the play of the needle, which they plainly saw, but 
found it impossible to touch, from the intervention 7 of the glass, 
were prepared by this marvellous object for the reception of 
those sublime and interesting communications by which their 
captive endeavored to gain an ascendency over their minds. 

17. For an hour after he had finished his discourse, they re- 
mained undecided; till, their accustomed sentiments reviving, 
they resumed their suspended purpose, and, having bound him 
to a tree, prepared to dispatch him with their arrows. But a 
deeper impression had been made on their chief; and his soul, 
enlarged for a season by the admission of knowledge, or sub- 
dued by the influence of wonder, revolted from the dominion 
of habitual barbarity. This chief bore the harsh and uncouth 
appellation 7 of Opechancanough, — a name which the subsequent 



5o The United States Reader. [1607. 

history of the province was to invest with no small terror and 
celebrity. 

18. Holding up the compass in his hand, he gave the signal 
of reprieve ; and Smith, though still guarded as a prisoner, 
was conducted to a dwelling, where he was kindly treated and 
plentifully entertained. But the strongest impressions pass 
away, while the influence of habit remains. After vainly 
attempting to prevail on their captive to betray the English 
colony into their hands, the Indians referred his fate to Pow- 
hatan, the emperor or principal sachem of the country, to whose 
presence they conducted him in triumphal procession. 

10. This prince received him with much ceremony, ordered a 
plentiful repast to be set before him, and then adjudged him to 
suffer death by having his head laid on a stone and beaten to 
]iieces with clubs. At the place appointed for his execution, 
Smith was again rescued from impending destruction by the 
interposition* of Pocahontas, the favorite daughter of the king 
who, finding her first entreaties in deprecation of the captive's 
fate disregarded, threw her arms around him, and passionately 
declared her determination to save him or die with him. Her 
generous humanity prevailed on the cruelty of her tribe ; and 
the king not only gave Smith his life, but soon after sent him 
back to Jamestown, where the beneficence of Pocahontas con- 
tinued to follow him with supplies of provisions, that delivered 
the colonists from famine.* 

20. After an absence of seven weeks, Smith returned to 
Jamestown, barely in time to prevent the desertion of the 
colony. His associates, reduced to the number of thirty-eight, 
impatient of further stay in a country where they had met 
with so many discouragements, and in which they seemed fated 
to re-enact the disasters of Koanoke, were preparing to abandon 
the settlement ; and it was not without the utmost difficulty, 
and alternately* employing persuasion, remonstrance, and even 



* Recent researches have resulted in throwing very great discredit upon this romantic story of 
Pocahontas ; and it is now generally viewed as a highly exaggerated statement of what really oc- 
curred, for while Smith related the story of his adventures sooq after his return to England, it was 
some years before he mentioned this incident at all. 



1607.] Colonial History. 5i 

violent interference, that Smith prevailed on them to relinquish 
their design. 

21. The provisions that Pocahontas sent him relieved their 
present wants ; his account of the plenty he had witnessed 
among the Indians renewed their hopes ; and he endeavored, 
by a diligent improvement of the favorable impressions he had 
made on the savages, and by a judicious regulation of the in- 
tercourse between them and the colonists, to promote a coali- 
tion of interests and a reciprocation v of advantages between the 
two races of people. His generous efforts were successful ; he 
preserved a steady and sufficient supply of food to the English, 
and extended his influence aud consideration with the Indians, 
who began to respect and consult their former captive as a 
superior being. — Colonial History of the United States. 

[Pocahontas was subsequently married to John Kolfe, a young Englishman, 
and three years afterward accompanied her husband to England, where she was 
an object of general interest and attention, and was presented at court. While 
about to return to her native land, she suddenly died (March, 1617), leaving a 
son, from whom are descended some well-known families in Virginia. The 
marriage of Pocahontas proved of great importance to the colonies, since it had 
the effect of establishing a lasting peace with Powhatan, as well as with the 
powerful tribe of the Chickahominies. These peaceful relations were undis- 
turbed until the death of Powhatan, in 1622.] 

Pocahontas. — Hemans, 

[The following lines are a part of a poem, by Mrs. Hemans, entitled the 
" American Forest Girl," upon the subject of Smith's singular escape from the 
doom pronounced by the savage chief, in accordance with the statement made 
by himself some years after his return to England.] 
She had sat gazing on the victim long, 
Until the pity of her soul grew strong ; 
And, by its passion's deepening fervor swayed, 
Even to the stake she rushed, and gently laid 
His bright head on her bosom, and around 
His form her slender arms to shield it wound 
Like close Liannes ; * then raised her glistening eye 
And clear-toned voice, that said, " He shall not die !" 
" He shall not die !" — the gloomy forest thrilled 

* Liannes (le-ari), or Lia'nas, is a term applied by the French colonists to the climbing and twining 
plants which abound in tropical forests. 



52 The United States Reader. [1609. 

To that sweet sound. A sudden wonder fell 

On the fierce throng : and heart and hand were stilled, 

Struck down as 03- the whisper of a spell. 

They gazed ; their dark souls bowed before the maid, 

She of the dancing step in wood and glade ! 

And, as her cheek flushed through its olive hue, 

As her black tresses to the night-wind flew, 

Something o'ermastered them from that young mien — 

Something of heaven in silence felt and seen ; 

And seeming, to their child-like faith, a token 

That the Great Spirit by her voice had spoken. 

They loosed the bonds that held their captive's breath ; 
From his pale lips they took the cup of death ; 
They quenched the brand beneath the cypress tree ; 
" Away," they cried, " young stranger, thou art free !" 

Virginia under the Second Charter,— T\\c London Company, 
not having realized their expectations of profit from the Jamestown colony, 
sought and obtained a second charter, in 1609, and conferred upon Lord 
Delaware, a nobleman distinguished for his virtues, the appointment of 
governor for life. Three commissioners, Newport, Gates, and Somers (sum'- 
erz) f who had hecn appointed to administer the affairs of the colony till the 
arrival of Delaware, were dispatched to America with a fleet of nine vessels, 
and more than live hundred emigrants. While on the passage a severe storm 
dispersed the fleet. One of the vessels (that bearing the commissioners) was 
wrecked on the Ber-mu'da Islands, and another foundered ; the others reached 
the James River in safety. Considering that no person had yet arrived who 
was entitled to supersede him, Smith maintained his position as president, until, 
having been severely injured by an explosion of gunpowder, he returned to En- 
gland for surgical aid. 

No sooner had Smith fairly departed than the colonists gave themselves up to 
idleness and vice. The Indians became hostile, the horrors of famine ensued, 
and in less than six months not more than sixty of the five hundred persons 
whom he had left in the colony remained. This period, extending over the first 
half of 1610, was long remembered as the "starving time." 

In consequence of their destitution and gloomy prospects, the colonists de- 
termined to seek safety among the English fishermen at Newfoundland. In four 
vessels they embarked; but, just as they were drawing near the mouth of the 
river, Lord Delaware appeared with emigrants and supplies, and persuaded them 
to return. The new administration was a wise one, and under it the colony 
prospered. In consequence, however, of ill health, Delaware was soon com- 
pelled to return to England. He was succeeded in office by Sir Thomas Gates. 

Third Charter. — New settlements were made in the vicinity of James- 
town ; and, notwithstanding the strictness of the laws, the colony continued 



16-2 4.] Colonial History. 5 



o 



to prosper. With a view to greater privileges, the London Company obtained 
their third charter, in 1G12. A remarkable feature of the new charter allowed 
the Company to hold meetings for the transaction of business, thus giving to 
that body a democratic form of government. 

Dissolution of the Company. — The affairs of the colony caused 
frequent meetings of the London Company, which were largely attended. The 
freedom of speech manifested on such occasions displeased the king, James I., and, 
under the pretext that the disasters to the colony were the result of bad govern- 
ment, he dissolved the Company. Thus Virginia became, in 1624, a royal province. 

The Cultivation and Use of Tobacco. — Campbell. 

1. In 1615, twelve different commodities had been shipped 
from Virginia ; sassafras and tobacco were now (1624) the only 
exports. During the year 1619, the company in England im- 
ported twenty thousand pounds of tobacco, the entire crop of 
the preceding year. James I. endeavored to draw a "preroga- 
tive^' revenue from what he termed a pernicious v weed, and 
against which he had published his "Counterblast;" but 
he was restrained from this illegal measure by a resolution of 
the House of Commons. In 1607, he sent a letter forbidding 
the use of tobacco at St. Mary's College, Cambridge. 

2. Smoking was the first mode of using tobacco in England; 
and when Sir "Walter Raleigh first introduced the custom 
among people of fashion, in order to escape observation he 
smoked privately in his house (at Islington), the remains of 
which were till of late }~ears to be seen, as an inn, long known as 
the Pied Bull. This was the first house in England in which 
it was smoked, and Raleigh had his arms emblazoned there, 
with a tobacco-plant on the top. 

3. There existed also another tradition 7 in the Parish of St. 
Matthew, Friday-street, London, that Raleigh was accustomed 
to sit smoking at the door in company with Sir Hugh Middle- 
ton. Sir Walter's guests were entertained with pipes, a mug of 
ale, and a nutmeg; and on these occasions he made use of his 
tobacco-box, which was of cylindrical 7 form, seven inches in 
diameter and thirteen inches long; the outside of gilt leather, 
and within a receiver of glass or metal, which held about a 
pound of tobacco. A kind of collar connected the receiver 



54 The United States Reader. 

with the case, and on every side the box was pierced with 
holes for the pipes. This relic was preserved in the museum 
of Ralph Thoresby of Leeds, in 1719, and, about 1843, was added, 
by the late Duke of Sussex, to his collection of the smoking 
utensils* of all nations 

4. The peers engaged in the trial of the Earls of Essex and 
Southampton, smoked much while they deliberated on their 
verdict*. It was alleged against Sir Walter Raleigh, that he 
used tobacco on the occasion of the execution of the Earl of 
Essex, in contempt of him ; and it was perhaps in allusion to 
this circumstance, that when Raleigh was passing through Lon- 
don to Winchester, to stand his trial, he was followed by the 
execrations* of the populace, and pelted with tobacco-pipes, 
stones, and mud. On the scaffold, however, he protested that 
during the execution of Essex he had retired far off into the 
armory, where Essex could not see him, although he saw Essex, 
and shed tears for him. Raleigh used tobacco on the morning 
of his own execution. 

5. As early as the year 1G10, tobacco was in general use in 
England. The manner of using it was partly to inhale the 
smoke and blow it out through the nostrils, and this was 
called "drinking tobacco," and this practice continued until the 
latter part of the reign of James I. In 1614, the number of 
tobacco-houses in or near London was estimated at 7,000. In 
1G20 was chartered the society of tobacco-pipe makers of 
London ; they bore on their shields a tobacco-plant in full 
blossom. 

6. The " Counterblast against Tobacco," attributed to James 
I., if in some parts absurd and puerile*, yet is not without a 
good deal of just reasoning and good sense; some fair hits are 
made in it, and those who have ridiculed that production might 
find it not easy to controvert some of its views. King James, 
in his Counterblast, does not omit the opportunity of express- 
ing his hatred toward Sir Walter Raleigh, in terms w r orthy of 
that despicable monarch. He continued his opposition to to- 
bacco as long as he lived, and in his ordinary conversation 
oftentimes argued and inveighed* against it. 



Colonial History. 55' 



7. The Virginia tobacco, in early times, was imported into 
England in the leaf, in bundles, as at present ; the Spanish or 
West Indian tobacco, in balls. Molasses or other liquid prepa- 
ration was used in preparing those balls. Tobacco was then, as 
now, adulterated in various ways. The nice retailer kept it in 
what were called lily-pots, that is, white jars. The tobacco was 
cut on a marble block: juniper-wood, which retains fire well, 
was used for lighting pipes ; and among the rich, silver tongs 
were employed for taking up a coal of it. Tobacco was some- 
times called the American Silver-weed 

8. The amount of tobacco imported in 1619 into England, 
from Virginia, being the entire crop of the preceding year, was 
twenty thousand pounds. At the end of seventy years, there 
were annually imported into England more than fifteen mil- 
lions of pounds of it, from which was derived a revenue of up- 
wards of £100,000. In April, 1621, the House of Commons 
debated whether it was expedient to prohibit the importation 
of tobacco entirely ; and they determined to exclude all save 
from Virginia and the Somer Isles. It was estimated that the 
consumption in England amounted to one thousand pounds 
per diem. This seductive"" narcotic v leaf, which soothes the 
mind and quiets its perturbations^ has found its way into all 
parts of the habitable globe, from the sunny tropics to the snowy 
regions of the frozen pole.* Its fragrant smoke ascends alike to 
the blackened rafters of the lowly hut and the gilded ceilings 
of luxurious wealth. — History of the Colony of Virginia. 

TJie Navigation Act. — The celebrated "Navigation Act/' which se- 
cured to English ships the monopoly of the carrying trade with England, and 
seriously abridged the freedom of colonial commerce, was passed by Parliament 
in 1651. It wa; not at first enforced against Virginia; but after its re-enact- 
ment in 1660, with new provisions, it was rigorottsly executed, despite the re- 
monstrances of the colonists. In 1673, Charles II., of England, granted to 
Lord Culpepper and the Earl of Arlington, " all the dominion of land and 
water called Virginia/' for the term of thirty-one years. 

In addition to this lavish grant, and the oppressiveness of the " Navigation 
Act," the colonists were restricted in the elective franchise 1 ' ; were required to 

* The use of tobacco, however, is neither to be encouraged nor commended. The " Counterblast"' 
was, perhaps, the most sensible of all King James's productions. 

3* 



56 The United States Reader. [1684. 

conform to the doctrines and rituals v of the Church of England ; and the taxes 
levied were unequal and oppressive. They wanted but an excuse for appearing 
in arms, and it was soon found in the invasion made by the Susquehanna In- 
dians. The invaders penetrated Virginia from the north, and carried desolation 
and deatli to many a lonely plantation. 

Hacon's Rebellion. — Tue people, knowing Governor Berkeley's meas- 
ures for defense to be very inefficient, demanded permission to arm and protect 
themselves ; but, being refused, they united ostensibly v to repel the Indian inva- 
ders; and thus a struggle for popular liberty broke out in 1676, known as 
Bacon's Rebellion. Nathaniel Bacon, from whom the movement took its name, 
was at once pointed out as the leader. His social position was good, and he was 
eloquent and courageous. 

With a force of five hundred men he marched against the Indians, whom he 
met and defeated ; and though Berkeley issued a proclamation declaring those 
in anus rebels, no notice was taken of the fulmination v . The success against 
the Indians inspired the insurgents with confidence. They made demands 
which Berkeley consented to grant; but.it soon becoming evident that he was 
acting treacherously, a desultory* civil war broke out, in the course of which 
Jamestown was burned to the ground. 

Just as the success of the rebellion seemed to be established, and plans in 
respect to a new government were about to be adopted, Bacon suddenly died. 
The governor then pursued vigorous measures, and, regaining his former 
power, caused twenty-two of the, insurgents to be hanged. Fines, imprison- 
ments, au.l confiscations* disgraced his administration until he was recalled by 
the king, in 1677. 

Subsequent "History* — Berkeley's successor was Lord Culpepper, to 
whom and the Karl of Arlington the country had been granted in 1673, as pre- 
viously stated. Virginia then became a proprietary government. Culpepper 
continued to rule until 1684, when, in consequence of his mismanagement, the 
king revoked the grant made to him and Arlington, and deprived him of his 
office. Virginia thus became a royal province again, and so remained till the 
Revolution. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

From its settlement, in 1620, to the union of New England Colonies, in 1643. 
TZ.rjrforation of New England. — Captain Smith, who had performed 
so creditable a part in the settlement of Virginia, set sail from London in 1614, 
for the purpose of trade and discovery in America. He examined the shores 
from the Penobscot River to Cape Cod, and prepared a map of the country, to 
which he gave the name of New England. The original Plymouth Company 
having been superseded by another, called the Council of Plymouth, the king, 
James I., granted to the latter, in 1620, all the territory between the fortieth and 
forty-eighth parallels of north latitude, extending from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific. 



1620.1 Colonial History. 5y 

The Puritans. — The first permanent settlement in New England was 
made by a small band of pilgrims, dissenters from the Church of England, who 
fled from their own country to seek an asylum* from religious persecution. 
These people belonged to a class known in England as Puritans,* from the 
strictness of their religious practices and doctrines. 

They at first went to Amsterdam, in Holland, whence they removed to Lev- 
den (It den). At Leyden they lived eleven years in great harmony, under the 
pastoral care of John Robinson ; but, from various causes, they became dissatis- 
fied with their residence, and desired to plant a colony in America, where they 
might enjoy their civil and religious rights without molestation. After much 
solicitation, they obtained a grant of land from the London Company. 

As many as could be accommodated embarked on board a vessel called the 
Speedwell. The ship sailed to Southampton, England, where she was joined 
by another ship, called the Mayflower, with other Pilgrims from London. 
The two vessels set sail, but had not gone far before the Speedwell was found 
to need repairs, and they entered the port of Dartmouth (darl'muth), England. 
A second time they started, but again put back — this time to Plymouth, where 
the Speedwell was abandoned as unseaworthy. 

Voyage of the Mayflower. — The Mayflower finally sailed alone, with 
one hundred and one passengers, the most distinguished of whom were John 
Carver, William Brewster, Miles Standish, William Bradford, and Edward 
Winslow. After a boisterous passage, they reached Cape Cod Bay ; and, though 
they had originally designed to seek a landing in the vicinity of Hudson River, 
they determined to attempt a settlement at this place, in consequence of the late- 
ness of the season, and the great fatigue which they had already undergone in 
so long, a voyage. 

Landing of the Pilgrims.— Southey. 

1. Days pass, winds veer, and. favoring skies 
Change like the face of fortune ; storms arise : 
Safely, but not within her port desired, 
The good ship lies. 
Where the long sandy Cape 
Bends and embraces round, 
As with a lover's arm, the sheltered sea, 
, A haven she hath found, 

From adverse gales and boisterous billows free. 

* The name Puritans was first given to those 'who, during the reign of Elizabeth, refused to conform 
to the liturgy and ceremonies of the Church of England, on the ground that the Church required 
further reformation, abandoning all merely traditional practices and doctrines, and following the "pure 
word of God. " The name was afterward given, in derision, not only to such, but to all who were pecu- 
liarly strict and serious in religious matters. The Puritans included several sects, as the Presbyterians 
and the Brownists, or Independents, who were opposed alike to Episcopacy and Presbyterianism. Tfee 
Pilgrim Fathers were of this latter class. 



58 The United States Reader. 

2. iNow strike your sails, 

Ye toil-worn mariners, and take your rest 
Long as the fierce northwest 

In that wild tit prevails, 
Tossing the waves uptorn with frantic sway. 

Keep ye within the bay, 

Contented to delay 
Your course till the elemental madness cease, 
And heaven and ocean are again at peace. 

3. How gladly there, 

Sick of the uncomfortable ocean, 
The impatient passengers approach the shore; 
Escaping from the sense of endless motion, 
To feel firm earth beneath their feet once more ; 
To breathe again the air 
"With taint of bilge v and cordage undefined, 
And drink of living springs, if there they may, 
And with fresh fruits and wholesome food repair 
Their spirits, weary of the wateiy way. 

4. And oh ! how beautiful 
The things of earth appear 
To eyes that, far and near, 
For many a week have seen' 

Only the circle of the restless sea ! 

With what a fresh delight 
They gaze again on fields and forests green, 

Hovel, or whatsoe'er 
May bear the trace of man's industrious hand ; 

How grateful to their sight 

The shore of shelving sand, 
As the light boat moves joyfully to land ! 

5. "Woods they beheld, and huts, and piles of wood, 

And many a trace of toil, 
But not green fields or pastures. 'Twas a land 

Of pines and sand ; — 

Dark pines, that, from the loose and sparkling soil, 

Rose in their strength aspiring : far and wide, 

The}'- sent their searching roots on every side,. 

And thus, by depth and long extension, found 

Firm hold and grasp within that treacherous ground ; 



1620.] Colonial History. 59 



So had they risen and flourished ; till the earth, 
Unstable as i:s neighboring ocean there, 
Like an unnatural mother, heaped around 
Their trunks its wavy furrows white and high, 
And stifled thus the living things it bore. 
Half buried thus they stand, 
Their summits sere and dry, 
Marking, like monuments, the funeral mound ; 
As when the masts of some tall vessel show 
Where, on the fatal shoals, the wreck lies whelm'd below. 

6. Such was the ungenial earth ; nor was the air 
Fresh and delightful there ; 
A noisome taint upon the breath it bore ; 
For they who dwelt upon that sandy shore, 
Of meadows and of gardens took no care. 
They so-.vd not, neither did they reap : 
The ocean was their field, their flocks and herds 

The myriad moving armies of the deep ; 
The whale their mighty chase, whose bones bestrew'd 
The sandy margin of that ample bay, 
And all about, in man}' a loathly heap, 
The offal and the reeking refuse lay, 
Left there for dogs obscene^ and carrion birds a prey. 

A New England Tale. 

Settlement of Plymouth. — Palfrey, 

1. The narrow peninsula, sixty miles long, which terminates 
in Cape Cod, projects eastward!} 7 from the mainland of Massa- 
chusetts, in shape resembling the human arm bent rectangu- 
larly^ at the elbow and again at the wrist. In the basin inclosed 
landward by the extreme point of this projection, in the road- 
stead of what is now Provincetown, the Mayflower dropped 
her anchor at noon on a Saturday near the close of autumn. 
The exigencies of a position so singular demanded an organiza- 
tion adequate v to the preservation of order and of the common 
safety, and the following instrument was prepared and signed : 

2. " In the name of God, amen. We, whose names are un- 
derwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign lord, King 
James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and 
Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc., having undertaken, 



60 The United States Reader. [IG20. 

for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, 
and honor of our king and country, a voyage, to plant the 
first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these pres- 
ents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God and one 
another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil 
body politic, for our better ordering and preservation, and 
furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof do 
enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordi- 
nances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as 
shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general 
good of the colony; unto which we promise all due submission 
and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed 
our names, at Gape Cod, the 11th of November, in the year of 
the reign of our sovereign lord, King James, of England, France, 
and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, 
Anno Domini 1020." 

3. Such was the beginning of the colony of Plymouth. To 
the end of its separate history, it continued to be an humble 
community in numbers and in wealth. When four years had 
passed, the village consisted of only thirty-two cabins, inhabited 
by a hundred and eighty persons. The government of the 
company was prescribed by the majority of voices, and admin- 
istered by one of its members, with another for his assistant. 
It was not so much a commonwealth as a factory, of which the 
head bore the title of governor. 

4. Six years later, it numbered three hundred persons; five 
years after this, it had added two hundred more ; and, at the 
end of its life of seventy years, its population, scattered through 
several towns, had probably not come to exceed eight thousand. 
It is on account of the virtue displayed in its institution and 
management, and of the great consequences to which it ulti- 
mately led, that the Colony of Plymouth claims the attention 
of mankind. In any other view its records would be unat- 
tractive. The building of log hovels, the turning of sand- 
heaps into cornfields, dealings with stupid Indians and with 
overreaching partners in trade, anxious struggles to get a liv- 
ing, and, at most, the sufferings of men, women, and children, 



1620.] Colonial History. 61 

wasting under cold, sickness, and famine, feebly supply, as the 
staple of a history, the place of those splendid exhibitions of 
power, and those critical conflicts of intrigue 7 and war, which 
till the annals of great empires. 

5. But no higher stake is played for in the largest sphere, 
than the life of a body politic ; nor can the most heroic man 
be moved by any nobler impulse than the sense of patriotic 
and religious obligation ; nor is the merit of that constancy, 
which makes no account of sacrifice and suffering, to be esti- 
mated by the size of the theatre on which it is displayed. 
And the homely story of the planters of Plymouth will not 
fail to have interest for those readers who are able to discrimi- 
nate what is most excellent in human nature from its adjuncts'", 
or for such as delight to trace the method of Providence, in 
educing"' results of the largest benefit to mankind, from the 
simple element of devotion to right and duty in lowly men. 

6. At the time of the adoption of the compact for a govern- 
ment, Carver was chosen governor of the company. In the 
afternoon, "fifteen or sixteen men, well armed," were sent on 
shore to reconnoitre"', and collect fuel. They returned at even- 
ing, reporting that they had seen neither person nor dwelling, 
but that the country w r as well wooded, and that the appearance 
as to soil was promising. 

7. Having kept their Sabbath in due retirement, the men 
began the labors of the week by landing a shallop 7 from the 
ship and hauling it up the beach for repairs, while the women 
went on shore to wash clothes. While the carpenter and his 
men were at work on the boat, sixteen others, armed and pro- 
visioned, w T ith Standish for their commander, set off on foot to 
explore the country. The only incident of this day was the 
sight of five or six savages, who, on their approach, ran away 
too swiftly to be overtaken. At night, lighting a fire and set- 
ting a guard, the party bivouacked 7 , at the distance, as they sup- 
posed, of ten miles from their vessel. 

8. Proceeding southward next morning, they observed marks 
of cultivation ; some heaps of earth w r hich they took for signs of 
graves, and the remains of a hut, with a "great kettle, which had 



62 The United States Reader. [1620. 

been some ship's kettle." In a heap which they opened they found 
two baskets containing four or live bushels of Indian corn, of 
which they took as much as they could carry away in their pock- 
ets and in the kettle. Further on, they saw two canoes, and " an 
old fort or palisade, made by some Christians/' as they" thought. 

9. The second night, which was rainy, they encamped again 
with more precautions than before. On Friday evening, having 
lost their way meanwhile, and been amused by an accident to 
Bradford, who was caught in an Indian deer-trap, they returned 
to their friends, "both weary and welcome, and delivered in 
their corn into the store to be kept for seed, for they knew nob 
how to come by any, and therefore were very glad, proposing, 
so soon as they could meet with any of the inhabitants of that 
place, to make them large satisfaction." 

10. The succeeding week was spent in putting their tools in 
order and preparing timber for a new boat. During this time, 
which proved to be cold and stormy, much inconvenience was 
experienced from having to wade "a bow-shot" through the 
shallow water to the shore; and many took "coughs and colds, 
which afterward turned to scurvy." On Monday of the week 
next following, twenty-four of the colonists, in the shallop, 
which was now refitted, set out for an exploration along the 
coast, accompanied by Jones, the shipmaster, and ten of his 
people, in the long-boat. That day and the following night 
they suffered from a cold snow-storm, and were compelled to 
run in to the shore for security. 

11. The next day brought them to the harbor to which the pre- 
ceding journey by land had been extended, now named by them 
Cold Harbor, and ascertained to have depth of twelve feet of water 
at flood-tide. Having slept under a shelter of pine-trees, they 
proceeded to make an examination of the spot as to its fitness 
for their settlement; in doing which, under the snow-covered 
and frozen surface, they found another parcel of corn and a 
bag of beans. These spoils they sent back in the shallop with 
Jones and sixteen of the party, who were ill, or worn out with 
exposure and fatigue. Marching inland five or six miles, they 
found a grave with a deposit of personal articles, as * bowls, 



1620.] Colonial History. 63 

trays, dishes/' "a knife, a pack-needle," "a little bow," and 
some "strings and bracelets of fine white beads." Two wig- 
wams* were seen, which appeared to have been recently in- 
habited. Eeturning to their boat in the evening, the party 
hastened to rejoin their friends. 

12. The question was discussed whether they should make a 
further examination of the coast, or sit down at the harbor 
which had been visited. The land about it had been under 
cultivation. The site appeared healthy and convenient for 
defense, as well as for taking whales, of which numbers were 
daily seen. The severity of the winter season was close at 
hand, and the delay, fatigue, and wo rk of further explorations 
were dreaded. But, on the whole, the uncertainty as to an 
adequate supply of water, with the insufficiency of the harbor, 
which, though commodious for boats, was too shallow for 
larger vessels, w r as regarded as a conclusive objection, and it 
was resolved to make a further examination of the bay. The 
mate of the Mayflower had told them of Agawam, now Ips- 
wich, as a good harbor, with fertile land, and facilities for 
fishing ; but, as things stood, it was thought too distant for a 
visit. 

13. As soon as the state of the weather permitted, a party of 
ten, including Carver, Bradford, and others of the principal men, 
set off with eight seamen in the shallop, on what proved to be 
the final expedition of discovery. The severity of the cold was 
extreme. " The water froze -on their clothes, and made them 
many times like coats of iron." Coasting along the cape in a 
southerly direction for six or seven leagues, they landed and 
slept at a place where ten or twelve Indians had appeared on 
the shore. 

14. The Indians ran away on being approached, and at night 
it was supposed that it was their fires which appeared at four 
or five miles' distance. The next day, while part of the company 
in the shallop examined the shore, the rest, ranging about the 
country, where are now the towns of Wellneet and Eastham, 
found a burial-place, some old wigwams, and a small store of 
parched acorns buried in the ground; but they met with no 



64 The United States Reader. [1C20. 

inhabitants. The following morning, at daylight, they had just 
ended their prayers, and were preparing breakfast at their camp 
on the beach, when they heard a yell, and a flight of arrows fell 
among them. The assailants turned out to be thirty or forty 
Indians, who, being fired upon, retired. Neither side had been 
harmed. A number of the arrows were picked up, "some 
whereof were beaded with brass, others with hart's horn, and 
others with eagles' claws." 

15. Getting on board, they sailed all day along the shore in a 
storm of snow and sleet, making, by their estimate, a distance , 
of forty or fifty miles without discovering a harbor. In the 
afternoon, the gale having increased, their rudder was disabled, 
and they had to steer with oars. At length the mast was car- 
ried away, and they drifted in the dark with a flood-tide. With 
difficulty they brought up under the lee of a "small rise of 
land.*' Here a part of the company, suffering from wet and 
cold, went on shore, though not without fear of hostile neigh- 
bors, and lighted a fire by which to pass the inclement night. 
In the morning, " they found themselves to be on an island,* 
Secure from the Indians, where they might dry their stuff, fix 
their pieces, and rest themselves; and this being the last day of 
the week, they prepared there to keep the Sabbath." 

16. u On Monday they sounded the harbor, and found it fit 
for shipping, and marched also into the land, and found divers 
corn-fields and little running brooks, a place, as they supposed, 
fit for situation ; ... so they returned to their ship again with 
this news to the rest of the people, which did much comfort 
their hearts." Such is the record of that event which has made 
the twenty-second of December a memorable day in the calen- 
dar, f — History of New England. 

* Clark's Island, in Plymouth Harbor, said to have been afterward so named from the mate of the 
Mayflower. Some authors give 101 as the number of the 3fuyfloicer , s passengers. 

t By the old style of reckoning it was Dec. 11. When the practice of celebrating the anniversary 
at Plymouth began, in 1769. eleven days were erroneously added to the recorded date, to accommodate 
it to the Gregorian style, which had been adopted in England in 1752. In 1620, however, the derange- 
ment of the calendar only amounted to 1m days, and consequently the landing described in tbe text 
occurred on the 21st of December. Mr. Palfrey remarks, in this connection, that "an attempt has 
been made within a few years to substitute the true allowance often days ; but the Uoenty-seeond day 
of December has taken a firm hold on the local thought and literature, which the twenty-first villi 
scarcely displace." 



Colonial History. 65 



The Pilgrim Fathers.— Pierpont. 

1. The Pilgrim Fathers — where are they ? 

The waves that brought them o'er 
Still roll in the bay and throw their spray, 

As they break along the shore ; 
Still roll in the bay, as they rolled that clay 

When the Mayflower moored below, — 
When the sea around was black with storms, 

And white the shore with snow. 

2. The mists that wrapped the Pilgrim's sleep 

Still brood upon the tide ; 
And the rocks yet keep their watch by the deep, 

To stay its waves of pride. 
But the snow-white sail that he gave to the gale, 

When the heavens looked dark, is gone ; — 
As an angel's wing, through an opening cloud, 

Is seen, and then withdrawn. 

3. The Pilgrim exile — sainted name ! — 

The hill whose icy brow 
Rejoiced when he came, in the morning's flame, 

In the morning's flame burns now ; 
And the moon's cold light, as it lay that night 

On the hillside and the sea, 
Still lies where he laid his houseless head ; — 

But the Pilgrim — where is he ? 

4. The Pilgrim Fathers are at rest ; 

When summer's throned on high, 
And the world's warm breast is in verdure dressed, 

Go stand on the hill where they lie. 
The earliest ray of the golden day 

On that hallowed v spot is cast ; 
And the evening sun, as he leaves the world, 

Looks kindly on that spot last. 

5. The Pilgrim spirit has not fled : 

It walks in noon's broad light ; 
And it watches the bed of the glorious dead, 
With the holy stars, by night 



66 The United States Reader. [iG35. 

It watches the bed of the brave who have bled, 

Aucl shall guard this ice-bound shore, 
Till the waves of the bay, where the Mayflower lay, 

Shall foam and freeze no more. 

History of Plymouth. — The first winter was very severe, and in less 
than five months nearly one-half of that Pilgrim band died from the effect of ex- 
posure and privations, Governor Carver and his wife being among the num- 
ber. William Bradford was thereupon elected to fill the vacancy, and during 
thirty years was active and conspicuous in the history of the colony. 

In 10:21, a treaty of friendship was made with Massasoit (mas-sa-soit'), chief 
of the Wampanoags (icom-pa-?io'ags), that was sacredly observed for more than 
thirty years. Canonicus [ka-non'i-kus), chief of the Narragansetts, kept the 
colonists in fear for a while, but the decisive course of Bradford eventually v com- 
pelled him to sue for peace. 

Massachusetts Bay Colony.— In the mean time, other influences 
were at work to extend the range of settlements. A company composed of gen- 
tlemen who were interested in the fisheries and trade of New England, having 
purchased a tract of land, sent out an expedition of a hundred persons, under 
the charge of John Endicott. These reached Salem in 1628, and made a settle- 
ment, thus laying the foundation of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The pro- 
prietors soon after obtained a charter from the king, under the incorporatedv title 
of" The Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay, in New England." 

Accessions were rapidly made to the new colony, and settlements at Charles- 
town and other places were made. Ah important change took place in 1629, 
by which the government of the company was transferred from London to New 
England. This induced men of fortune and intelligence to become interested, 
among whom was John Winthrop,* who was afterward elected governor, and 
who set sail for the colony in the ))cginning of April, 1630. Winthrop was ac- 
companied by about three hundred families, mostly Puritans, who settled at Bos- 
ton and adjacent places, in 1630. 

The banishment of Roger Williams, in 1635, was an event not only impor- 
tant in itself, hut also on account of the principle it enunciated 7 . Though a 
Puritan, Williams denounced the religious intolerance^ practised in New Eng- 
land ; for which, as well as for certain opinions which he held touching civil 
matters, he was banished. Nor was this the only banishment. A Mrs. Hutchin- 
son,! who persisted in holding meetings of her own sex, and promulgating pecu- 
liar views, was also driven into exile. 

* John Winthrop was born in Groton. county of Suffolk, England, in 1588. He was re-elected 
governor of Massachusetts every year until 1634. With the exception of two or three years, he was 
afterward deputy governor or governor until his death, which occurred in 1649. 

+ Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, upon being sentenced to banishment, at first went to Rhode Island. 
After the death of her husband, which occurred in 1612, five years later, she removed with her chil- 
dren to New Netherlands. The Indians and the Dutch were then at war. and, in an attack made by the 
former, her house was set on fire, and she and all her family, except one child, either perished in the 
flames or were massacred by the savages. 



Colonial History. 67 

RHODE ISLAND. 

Roger Williams, and the Settlement of Provi- 
dence. — Bancroft. 

1. At a time when Germany was the battle-field for all 
Europe in the implacable v wars of religion ; when even Hol- 
land was bleeding with the anger of vengeful factions ; when 
France was still to go through the fearful struggle with bigotry 7 ; 
when England was gasping under the despotism v of intolerance 7 ; 
almost half a century before William Penn became an Ameri- 
can proprietary 7 ; and two years before Descartes (da-lcarf) 
founded modern philosophy on the method of free reflection, — ■ 
Roger Williams asserted the great doctrine of intellectual lib- 
erty. It became his glory to found a state upon that principle, 
and to stamp himself upon its rising institutions in characters 
so deep that the impress has remained to the present day, and 
can never be erased without the total destruction of the work. 

2. The principles which he first sustained amidst the 
bickerings 7 of a colonial parish, next asserted in the general 
court of Massachusetts, and then introduced into the wilds on 
Narragansett Bay, he soon found occasion to publish to the 
world, and to defend, as the basis of the religious freedom of 
mankind ; so that, borrowing the rhetoric employed by his an- 
tagonist 7 in derision, we may compare him to the lark, the 
pleasant bird of the peaceful summer, that, " affecting to soar 
aloft, springs upward from the ground, takes his rise from 
pale to tree," and at last, surmounting the highest hills, utters 
his clear carols through the skies of morning. 

3. He was the first person in modern Christendom to assert 
in its plenitude 7 the doctrine of the liberty of conscience, the 
equality of opinions before the law; and in its defense he 
was the harbinger 7 of Milton, the precursor 7 and the superior 
of Jeremy Taylor. For Taylor limited his toleration to a few 
Christian sects; the philanthropy 7 of Williams compassed the 
earth : Taylor favored partial reform, commended lenity, ar- 
gued for forbearance, and entered a special plea in behalf of 



68 The United States Reader. [1635. 

each tolerable sect; Williams would permit persecution of no 
opinion, of no religion, leaving heresy* unharmed by law, and 
orthodoxy unprotected by the terrors of penal* statutes. 

4. Taylor still clung to the necessity of positive regulations 
enforcing religion and eradicating error; he resembled the 
poets, who, in their folly, first declare their hero to be invulner- 
able v , and then clothe him in earthly armor: Williams was 
willing to leave Truth alone, in her own panoply of light, be- 
lieving that if, in the ancient feud between Truth and Error, 
the employment of force could be entirely abrogated*, Truth 
would have much the best of the bargain. 

5. It is the custom of mankind to award high honors to the 
successful inquirer into the laws of nature, — to those who ad- 
vance the bounds of human knowledge. We praise the man 
who first analyzed* the air, or resolved water into its elements, 
or drew the lightning from the clouds ; even though the dis- 
coveries may have been as much the fruits of time as of gen- 
ius. A moral principle has a much wider and nearer influ- 
ence on human happiness ; nor can any discovery of truth be of 
more direct benefit to society, than that which establishes a 
perpetual religious peace, and spreads tranquillity through 
every community and every bosom. 

6. If Copernicus is held in perpetual reverence because, on 
his death-bed, he published to the world that the sun is the 
centre of our system; if the name of Kepler is preserved in the 
annals of human excellence for his sagacity in detecting the 
laws of the planetary motion; if the genius of Newton has 
been almost adored for dissecting a ray of light, and 
weighing heavenly bodies as in a balance, — let there be for 
the name of Roger Williams at least some humble place among 
those who have advanced moral science, and made themselves 
the benefactors* of mankind. . . . 

7. Winter was at hand [when sentence of exile was pro- 
nounced against him] ; Williams succeeded in obtaining per- 
mission to remain till Spring; intending then to begin a plan- 
tation on Narragansett Bay. But the affections of the people 
of Salem revived, and could not be restrained ; they thronged 



1636.] Colonial History. 



to his house to hear him whom they were so soon to lose for- 
ever ; it began to be rumored that he could not safely be al- 
lowed to found a neAv state in the vicinity; "many of the peo- 
ple were much taken with the apprehension of his godliness;" 
his opinions were contagious v ; the infection spread widely. 

8. It was therefore resolved to remove him to England in a 
ship that Avas just ready to set sail. A warrant was accordingly 
sent to him to come to Boston and embark. For the first time 
he declined the summons of the court. A pinnace v was sent 
for him; the officers repaired to his house; he was no longer 
there. Three days before he had left Salem, in winter snow 
and inclement* weather, of which he remembered the severity 
even in his late old age. "For fourteen weeks, he was sorely 
tost in a bitter season, not knowing what bread or bed did 
mean." Often in the stormy night he had neither fire, nor food, 
nor company; often he wandered without a guide, and had no 
house but a hollow tree. 

9. But he was not without friends. The same scrupulous 
respect for the rights of others which had led him to defend 
the freedom of conscience, had made him also the champion of 
the Indians. He had already been zealous to acquire their 
language, and knew it so well that he could debate with them 
in their own dialect T . During his residence at Plymouth, he 
had often been the guest of the neighboring sachems v ; and 
now, when he came in winter to the cabin of the chief of 
Pokauoket, he was welcomed by Massasoit ; and " the barbarous 
heart of Canonicus, the chief of the Xarragan setts, loved him 
as his son to the last gasp." " The ravens," he relates with 
gratitude, "fed me in the wilderness." And in requital 7 for 
their hospitality, he was ever, through his long life, their friend 
and benefactor ; the apostle v of Christianity to them, without 
hire, without weariness, and without impatience at their idol- 
atry; — the guardian of their rights; the pacificator, when 
their rude passions were inflamed; and their unflinching ad- 
vocate and protector, whenever Europeans attempted an inva- 
sion of their soil. 

10. He first pitched, and began to build and plant at Seekonk. 



Jo The United States Reader. [1637. 

But Seekonk was found to be within the patent of Plymouth ; 
on the other side of the water, the country opened in its unap- 
propriated'' beauty, and there he might hope to establish a 
community as free as the other colonies. " That ever-honored 
Governor Winthrop/' says Williams, "privately wrote to me to 
steer my course to the Narragansett Bay, encouraging me from 
the freeness of the place from English claims or patents. I 
took his prudent motion as a voice from God." 

11. It was in June that the lawgiver of Rhode Island, with 
five companions, embarked on the stream; a frail Indian canoe 
contained the founder of an independent state and its earliest 
citizens. Tradition has marked the spring near which they' 
landed ; it is the parent spot, the first inhabited nook of Rhode 
Island. To express his unbroken confidence in the mercies of 
God, Williams called the place Providence. "I desired," 
said he, '-it might be for a shelter for persons distressed for 
conscience." 

12. In his new abode, Williams could have less leisure for 
contemplation and study. " My time," he observes of himself, — 
and it is a sufficient apology for the roughness of his style, as 
a writer on morals, — "was not spent altogether in spiritual 
labors; but, day and night, at home and abroad, on the land 
and water, at the hoe, at the oar, for bread." In the course of 
two years he was joined by others, who fled to his asylum. The 
land which was now occupied by Williams was within the ter- 
ritory of the Narragan sett Indians ; it was not long before an 
Indian deed from Canonicus and Miantonomah made him the 
undisputed possessor of an extensive domain. — History of the 
United States. 

Bhode Island Plantation.— Charter.— In 1637, William Cod- 
dington, -who had been subjected to religious persecution in Boston, accepted 
an invitation from Williams, purchased from the Indians the island of Khode 
Island * ami settled there. Rather than admit a claim of jurisdiction set up by 
Plymouth, Williams went to England, and obtained a charter whereby the 

* It (the island) " was so called from a fancied resemblance to the island of Rhodes.*' Another 
authority says, " That in consequence of the reddish appearance of the island, it was soon known 
among the Dutch (of Xew Netherlands) as Roodc, or Red Island. From this is derived the name of 
the Island and State." 



1635.] Colonial History. 71 

settlements of Ehode Island were united, in 1644, under one government, as 
" The Incorporation of Providence Plantations in the Narragansett Bay in 
New England." 

After Charles II. ascended the throne of England, Ehode Island, in 1663, 
obtained a new charter. "When Andros assumed the government of New En- 
gland, the management of affairs under the charter was, for the time, necessarily 
suspended ; but directly after he was seized and sent to England, as elsewhere 
stated, the charter became the fundamental v law of the colony, and was the 
only constitution of the State till 1S42. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

The Council of Plymouth, in 1620, obtained a grant of land including the 
whole of what is now known as New England. In 1622, a portion of this grant, 
extending from the Merrimac to the Kennebec, was ceded by the council to 
Ferdinand Gorges {gor'jes) and John Mason, two of its most active members. 
Gorges and Mason, indulging " brilliant anticipations " for their territory, sent 
over emigrants, in 1623, who settled at Little Harbor, near Portsmouth, and at 
Dover. These were the first settlements in New Hampshire. 

In 1629, the Rev. John Wheelwright and others, evidently not considering the 
grant to Gorges and Mason as of much value, purchased of the Indians all the 
territory between the Merrimac and Piscataqua. In the same year, Mason ob- 
tained a grant, in his own name alone, of the country which Wheelwright had 
purchased, and to this he gave the name of New Hampshire.* 

The different settlements of New Hampshire in time came to be governed by 
different proprietors; but the people, believing their interests would be promoted 
by a change, in 1641 formed a union, and placed themselves under the protec- 
tion of Massachusetts. This privilege was- enjoyed for a period of nearly forty 
years, when, in 1680, the two colonies were separated by order of the king, and 
New Hampshire became a royal province. 

The district of New Hampshire was several times connected with Massachu- 
setts, — the first from 1641 to 1680, as previously stated ; but, in 1741, it became 
a separate province, and so continued till the Revolution. 

CONNECTICUT. 

Connecticut Colony.— In 1630, the Council of Plymouth ceded the 
"soil of Connecticut"! to the Earl of Warwick; and this grant the following 
year was transferred to Lord Say-and-Seal, Lord Brooke, and others. As the 
Dutch, at the time, laid claim to the territory thus ceded, they built a fort on 
the Connecticut, where Hartford now stands, to prevent the English from 
making any settlements in that section. 

Sayhrook Colony.— -The structure was hardly completed when Captain 

* Mason had been governor of Portsmouth, Hampshire C.ounty, England. Hence the name. A 
recent writer pronounces Wheelwright's deed from the Indians " a forgery." 

+ This State derives its name from its chief river, the Connecticut, a name given to it by the In- 
dians, and signifying in their language The Long River, 

4 



72 The United States Reader. [igst. 

Holmes {homz) and a company from Plymouth sailed up the river. Though 
menaced by the Dutch, the English passed the fort unfmrt, and commenced the 
settlement of Connecticut, by erecting in that year, 1633, a trading-house at 
Windsor (win'zer). Important additions were made to this, called the Connec- 
ticut Colony, by two large emigrations from Massachusetts — the second con- 
ducted by the Rev. Thomas Hooker, in 1G36. 

Settlement of Saybrook.^Taw&rA the close of 1635, John Winthrop, 
son of the Massachusetts governor, acting under a commission from the proprie- 
tors of Connecticut, built a fort at the mouth of the Connecticut River. A colony 
was also established there, which, in honor of Lord Say-and-Seal, and Lord 
Brooke, was called Saybrook. 

Peq nod War, ■— About this time difficulties with the Indians commenced. 
The PequOds [pe'kwodz), a warlike tribe inhabiting the southeastern part of Con- 
necticut, having committed many acts of hostility, Hartford, "Windsor, and 
Wethers field, in 1637, united in declaring war against them. Captain Mason, 
wirh a force of colonists and friendly Indians, proceeded against the Pequods, 
burned their fort and wigwams, killed more than six hundred of their number, 
and completely broke them up as a tribe. 

New I Fare n Colony. — A third colony was established in Connecticut, in 
1638, called the New Haven Colony. The land was bought of the Indians ; and, 
under the guidance of Theophilus Eaton and the Rev. John Davenport, a colony, 
remarkable for the religious spirit that marked its laws,was planted and flourished. 

Union of the Colonies. — In 1 639, the people of Hartford, Windsor, 
and Wethersfield, finding their settlements beyond the limits of Massachusetts, 
met at Hartford, and united in forming a government for themselves. The col- 
ony of Saybrook maintained its separate existence until 1644. By its annexa- 
tion^ in that year to the Connecticut Colony, only tAvo colonies remained, which 
were united in 1665, under a liberal royal charter granted by King Charles II. 
of England. 

The Charter Gah'. — Sir Edmund Andros, who had been made royal gov- 
ernor of New England, in -1687 appeared before the Connecticut Assembly, in 
session at Hartford, and demanded the surrender of the charter. A discussion 
at once arose, which was protracted till evening, when the charter was brought 
in and laid upon the table ; but just as Andros was stepping forward to take it, 
the lights were suddenly extinguished. When the candles were relighted, the 
document could not be found. It had been carried away and hid in the hollow 
of a tree, which was afterward known as the Charter Oak. 

Andros, although unable to procure the charter, assumed the government, 
which he administc red till he was seized at Boston and sent to England, in 1689, 
to be tried on a charge of maladministration of the public affairs. The charter 
was then taken from its hiding-place, and Connecticut again assumed her 
position as an independent colony. 

The Charter Oak was held in great veneration, and was carefully preserved 
till 1856, when it was laid prostrate by a violent storm. 



164&.] Colonial History. 73 



MASSACHUSETTS. 

From the Union of the New England Colonies in 1643, to the French and Indian 
War. 

The New England Confederacy. — Grahame. 

1. Alarmed by the frequent indications of fickleness 7 , dis- 
like, and furious passion of the Indians, and ascertaining by dint 
of inquiry that they had recently proposed and entertained the 
plan of a general conspiracy against the colonists, the authorities 
of Massachusetts conceived the defensive project of providing, 
by a mutual concert of the colonies, for the common danger 
which they might expect to encounter at no distant day, when 
the savages, instructed by experience, would sacrifice their 
private feuds to combined hostility against a race of strangers, 
whose progressive advancement seemed to minister occasion of 
increasing and incurable jealousy to the whole Indian race. 

2. Having composed, for this purpose, a plan which was 
framed in imitation of the bond of union between the Dutch 
provinces, and which readily suggested itself to some leading 
personages among the colonists, who had resided with the 
Brownist congregation in Holland, they communicated it to 
the neighboring settlements of New Plymouth, Connecticut, 
and New Haven, by which it was cordially embraced. These 
four colonies accordingly entered into a league of perpetual 
confederacy, offensive and defensive (May 19, 1643). 

3. The instrument of confederation between them announced 
that their respective inhabitants had all come into these parts of 
America with the same errand and aim, to advance the Chris- 
tian religion, and enjoy the liberty of their consciences ivith 
purity and peace. It was stipulated 7 , that the confederates 
should thenceforth be distinguished by the title of the United 
Colonies of New England; that each province should remain a 
separate and distinct municipal 7 association, and retain inde- 
pendent jurisdiction within its own territory; that in every 
war, offensive or defensive, each of the confederates should 
furnish its quota of men, money, and provisions, at a rate to be 



74 The United States Reader. [ig-ig. 

fixed from time to time, in proportion to the population of the 
respective communities ; that a council, composed of two com- 
missioners from each province, should be annually convoked 
and empowered to deliberate and decide on all points of com- 
mon concern to the confederacy ; and that every resolve sanc- 
tioned by the approbation of six of the commissioners, should 
be binding on all the associated provinces. 

4. Every province renounced the right of protecting fugitive 
debtors or criminals from the legal process of the particular 
community which they might have wronged and deserted. The 
State of Rhode Island, which was not included in this confed- 
eracy, petitioned a few years after to be admitted into it ; but 
her request was refused, except on the condition, which she 
declined, of merging her separate existence in an incorporation 
with the colony of New Plymouth. Thus excluded from the 
benefit of the federal union, and in a manner dissociated from 
the other states, the inhabitants of Rhode Island and Provi- 
dence endeavored to promote their separate security by concili- 
ating the friendship of the Indians ; and the humane and cour- 
teous policy which the purpose taught them to pursue, proved 
remarkably successful. — Colonial History of the United States. 

Eliot's Efforts to Convert the Indians. — Grahame. 

1. While the people at large were progressively extending 
their industry, and subduing by culture the rudeness of desert 
nature, the ministers of religion, with earnest zeal, aspired* to 
an extension of their peculiar sphere of usefulness; and at a 
very early period entertained designs of redeeming to the do- 
minion of piety and civility the neglected wastes of human life 
and character that lay stretched in savage ignorance and idola- 
try around them. John Eliot, one of the ministers of Koxbury, 
a man whose large soul glowed with the intensest flame of holy 
charity, was deeply penetrated with a sense of this duty, and 
for some time had been laboriously qualifying himself to over- 
come the preliminary v difficulty by which its performance \ras 
obstructed. He had now by diligent study attained such ac- 
quaintance with the Indian language as enabled him not only 



1646.] Colonial History. ' J 5 

to speak it with fluency, but to facilitate the acquisition of it to 
others, by the construction and publication of a system of 
Indian Grammar. 

2. Having completed his preparatory inquiries, he began, in 
the close of this year (October, 1646), a scene of pious labor, 
which has been traced with great interest and accuracy by the 
ecclesiastical historians of Kew England ; and still more mi- 
nutely, we may believe, in that eternal record where alone the 
actions of men obtain their just, their final, and everlasting 
proportions. It is a remarkable feature in his long and arduous 
career, that the spirit and energy by which he was supported 
never incurred the slightest abatement, but, on the contrary, 
manifested a steady and continual increase. He confidently 
relied on its unfailing endurance ; and always referring it to 
divine infusion, felt assured of its derivation from a fountain 
incapable of being wasted by the most liberal communication. 

3. Everything he saw or knew occurred to him in a religious 
aspect; every faculty, and every acquisition that he derived 
from the employment of his faculties, was received by him as a 
ray imparted to his soul from that supreme source of sentiment 
and intelligence which was the object of his earnest contempla- 
tion and continual desire. As he was one of the holiest, so was 
he also one of the happiest and most beloved of men. When 
he felt himself disabled from preaching by the infirmities of old 
age, he proposed to his parishioners of Roxbury to resign his 
ministerial salary; but these good people unanimously declared 
that they would willingly pay the stipend 7 , for the advantage 
and honor of having him reside among them. His example, in- 
deed, was the most valuable part of his ministry among Chris- 
tians; his life, during mauy years, being a continual and mani- 
fest effusion of soul in devotion to God and charity to mankind. 

4. The mild, persuasive address of Eliot soon gained him a 
favorable audience from many of the Indians ; and having suc- 
cessfully represented to them the expediency 7 of an entire 
departure from their savage habits of life, he obtained from the 
General Court a suitable tract of land adjoining to the settle- 
ment of Concord, in Massachusetts, where a number of Indian 



j 6 The United States Reader. [1647. 

families began, under his counsel, to erect fixed habitations 
for themselves, and where they eagerly received his instruc- 
tions, both spiritual and seculars It was not long before a violent 
opposition to these innovations was excited by the powwows, or 
Indian priests, who threatened death, and other inflictions of 
the vengeance of their idols, on all who should embrace Chris- 
tianity. The menaces and artifices of these persons caused 
several of the seeming proselytes to draw back, but induced 
others to separate themselves entirely from the society and 
converse of the main body of their countrymen, and court the 
advantage of a closer association with that superior race of men 
who showed themselves so generously willing to diffuse and 
communicate the capacity and benefits of their own improved 
condition. 

5. A considerable number of Indians resorted to the land 
allotted to them by the provincial government, and exchanged 
their wild and barbarous habits for the modes of civilized life and 
industry. Eliot was continually among them, instructing, anima- 
1 ing, and directing t hem. They felt his superior wisdom, and saw 
him continually and serenely happy; and there was nothing in 
his exterior condition that indicated sources of enjoyment from 
which they were necessarily debarred v . On the contrary, it was 
obvious that of every article of merely selfish comfort he was 
willing to divest himself, in order to communicate to them a 
share of what he esteemed the only true riches of an immortal 
being. The women in the next settlement learned to spin ; 
the men to dig and till the ground; and the children were in- 
structed in the English language, and taught to read and write, 
or, as the Indians expressed themselves, to get news from the 
paper, and mark their thoughts 011 it. 

6. As the numbers of domesticated v Indians increased, they 
built a town by the side of Charles Eiver, which they called 
Natick, and they desired Eliot to frame a system of municipal' 
government for them. He directed their attention to the 
counsel that Jethro gave to Moses ; and, in conformity with it, 
they elected for themselves rulers of hundreds, of fifties, and of 
tens. The provincial government also established a tribunal, 



1664.] Colonial History. J J 

which, without assuming jurisdiction over them, tendered the 
assistance of its judicial mediation to all who might be willing 
to refer to it the adjustment of their more difficult or important 
controversies. In endeavoring to extend their missionary influ- 
ence among the surrounding tribes, Eliot and the associates of 
his labors (men like-minded with himself), encountered a vari- 
ety of success, corresponding to the visible varieties of human 
character, and the invisible predeterminations of the divine will, 

7. Many persons expressed the utmost abhorrence and con- 
tempt of Christianity ; some made a hollow profession of 
wilii ngnass to learn, and even of conviction, — with the view, 
as it afterward proved, of obtaining the tools and other articles 
of value that were furnished to every Indian who proposed to 
embrace the habits of civilized life. In spite of great dis- 
couragement, the missionaries persisted; and the difficulties 
that at first mocked their efforts seeming at length to vanish 
under an influence at once mysterious and irresistible, their 
labors were crowned with astonishing success. The character 
and habits of the lay colonists promoted the efficacy of these 
pious exertions, in a manner which will be forcibly appreciated 
by all who have exainined the history and progress of missions. 
Simple in their manners, devout, moral, and industrious in 
their conduct and demeanor, they enforced the lessons of the 
missionaries by demonstrating their practicability and benefi- 
cial effects, and exhibited a model of life, which, in point of 
refinement, was not too elevated for Indian imitation. . . . 

8. Eliot had occasionally translated and printed various ap- 
proved theological 7 dissertations v for the use of the Indians; 
and at length, in the year 1664, the Bible was printed, for the 
first time, in one of the native languages of the JS~ew World, at 
Cambridge, in Massachusetts. This, indeed, was not accom- 
plished without the assistance of pecuniary contributions from 
the mother country. The colonists had zealously and cheer- 
fully co-operated with their ministers, and assisted to defray 
the cost of their charitable enterprises; but the increasing 
expenses threatened at last to exceed what their narrow means 
were competent to afford. 



yS The United States Reader. [1665. 

9. Happily, the tidings of this great work excited a kindred 
spirit in the parent state, where, in the year 1649, there was 
formed by act of parliament, a Society for propagating* the 
Gospel in Neio England, whose co-operation proved of essential 
service to the missionary cause. This society, dissolved at the 
Restoration 7 , was afterward re-established by a charter from 
Charles II., obtained by the exertions of the pious Richard 
Baxter, and the influence of the illustrious. Eobert Boyle, who 
thus approved himself the benefactor of New England as well 
as of Virginia. 

10. Supported by its ample endowments 1 ", and the liberal con- 
tributions of their own fellow-colonists, the American mission- 
aries exerted themselves with such energy and success in the 
work of converting and civilizing the savages, that, before the 
close of the seventeenth century, there were collected in the 
province of Massachusetts more than thirty congregations of 
Indians, comprising upward of three thousand persons, re- 
claimed from a gross barbarism and degrading superstition*, 
and advanced to the comfort and respectability of civilized 
life, and the dignity and happiness of worshippers of the true 
God. There were nearly as many converts to religion and 
civility in the islands of Massachusetts Bay; there were several 
Indian congregations in the Plymouth territories; and among 
some of the tribes that still pursued their wonted style of rov- 
ing life, there was introduced a considerable improvement in 
civil and moral habits. Several Indians received education at 
Harvard College; from which, in the year 1G65, one of their 
number obtained the degree of Bachelor of Arts. — Colonial 
History of the United States. 

Persecution of the QuaJcers. — In 1G56 a serious trouble commenced, 
growing out of the arrival in that year of a number of Quakers from England. 
They had been represented as a people of peculiar opinions and conduct, and 
consequently they were persecuted. Many were banished, four were executed, 
and others were whipped or cast into prison. The great severity of the meas- 
ures at last produced a reaction in public feeling ; and, after five years of trouble, 
the Quakers were allowed to come and enjoy their opinions in peace. 

King Philip' 's War, — During the life of Massasoit, the treaty of friend- 



1676.] Colonial History. 79 

ship between him and the people of Plymouth was faithfully kept ; but, after 
his death, Philip, commonly known as King Philip, his son and successor, made 
war upon the colonists. It became evident to the Indians that the spreading 
settlements were fast breaking up their hunting-grounds ; and they saw too, in 
the growing power of the whites, their own inevitable v extinction. Besides, 
thev were burning to avenge personal wrongs. 

Nothing short of a union of the New England tribes for the extermination 7 of 
the colonists, it was thought, could arrest .the tide against them ; and Philip, so 
it was alleged, was the leading spirit in plotting the combination. It is related 
that a converted Indian, who had been sent as a missionary among his people, 
was the principal informer against Philip. This man was found murdered. The 
execution by the Avhites of three Indians, convicted of the murder, may be con- 
sidered as the immediate cause of the war. 

The first attack was made by Philip, in 1675, upon the people of Swan'zcy, 
as they were returning, one Sunday, from church. Although a treaty of peace 
had been made with the Narragansetts, they joined in the war against the 
English. A strong force was sent against the Indians; and, in an immense 
swamp in the southern part of Ehode Island, they were defeated with great loss. 
Yet they continued their depredations' till the death of Philip, which occurred 
in 1676, he being shot by one of his own tribe. 

Death and Character of King Philip.— Irving. 

1. "With a scanty band of followers, who still remained true 
to his desperate fortunes, the unhappy Philip wandered back 
to Mount Hope, the ancient dwelling of his fathers. Here he 
lurked about, like a spectre v , among scenes of former power and 
prosperity, now bereft of home, of family, and friends. There 
needs no better picture of his destitute and piteous situation 
than that furnished by the homely pen of the chronicler v , who 
is unwarily enlisting the feelings of the reader in favor of the 
hapless warrior whom he reviles. "Philip," he says, "like a 
savage wild beast, having been hunted by the English forces 
through the woods, above a hundred miles backward and for- 
ward, at last was driven to his own den upon Mount Hope, where 
he retired, with a few of his best friends, into a swamp, which 
proved but a prison to keep him fast till the messengers of death 
came by divine permission to execute vengeance upon him/' 

2. Even in this last refuge of desperation and despair, a sul- 
len grandeur gathers round his memory. We picture him to 
ourselves seated among his care-worn followers, brooding in 

4* 



So The United States Reader. [i6?c>. 

silence over his blasted fortunes, and acquiring a savage sub- 
limity from the wildness and dreariness of his lurking-place. 
Defeated, but not dismayed — crushed to the earth, but not 
humiliated — he seemed to grow more haughty beneath disaster, 
and to experience a fierce satisfaction in draining the last dregs 
of bitterness. 

3. Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune, but 
great minds rise above it. The very idea of submission awak- 
ened the fury of Philip, and he smote to death one of his fol- 
lowers, who proposed an expedient of peace. The brother of 
the victim made his escape, and in revenge betrayed the retreat 
of his chieftain. A body of white men and Indians were im- 
mediately dispatched to the swamp where Philip lay crouched, 
glaring with fury and despair. Before he was aware of their 
approach, they had begun to surround him. In a little while 
he Baw five of his trustiest followers laid dead at his feet; all 
resistance was vain ; he rushed forth from his covert, and made 
a headlong attempt to escape, but was shot through the heart 
by a renegade* Indian of his own nation. 

4. Such is the scanty story of the brave but unfortunate King 
Philip ; persecuted while living, slandered and dishonored when 
(had. If, however, Ave consider even the prejudiced anecdotes 
furnished us by his enemies, we may perceive in them traces 
of amiable and lofty character sufficient to awaken sympathy 
for his fate, and respect for his memory. We find that, amidst 
all the harassing cares and ferocious passions of constant war- 
fare, he was alive to the softer feelings of connubial 7 love and 
paternal' tenderness, and to the generous sentiment of friend- 
ship. The captivity of his " beloved wife and only son" is men- 
tioned with exultation as causing him poignant misery; the 
death of any near friend is triumphantly recorded as a new 
blow on his sensibilities ; but the treachery and desertion of 
many of his followers, in whose affections he had confided, is 
said to have desolated his heart, and to have bereaved him of 
all further comfort. 

5. He was a patriot attached to his native soil — a prince true 
to his subjects, and indignant of their wrongs — a soldier daring 



Colonial History. 



in battle, firm in adversity, patient of fatigue, of hunger, of 
every variety of bodily suffering, and ready to perish in the 
cause he had espoused*. Proud of heart, and with an untama- 
ble love of natural liberty, he preferred to enjoy it among the 
beasts of the forest, or in the dismal and famished recesses of 
swamps and morasses, rather than bow his haughty spirit to 
submission, and live dependent and despised in the ease and 
luxury of the settlements. "With heroic qualities and bold 
achievements that would have graced a civilized warrior, and 
have rendered him the theme of the poet and the historian, he 
lived a wanderer and a fugitive in his native land, and w r ent 
down, like a lonely bark foundering amid darkness and tempest 
— without a pitying eye to weep his fall, or a friendly hand to 
-Sketch Booh. 

The Indian Hunter. — Longfellow. 

When the summer harvest was gathered in, 
And the sheaf of the gleaner grew white and thin, 
And the ploughshare was in its furrow left, 
"Where the stubble land had been lately cleft, 
An Indian hunter, with unstrung bow, 
Looked down where the valley lay stretched below. 
He was a stranger there, and all that day 
Had been out on the hills — a perilous way ; 
But the foot of the deer was far and fleet, 
And the wolf kept aloof from the hunter's feet ; 
And bitter feelings passed o'er him then, 
As he stood by the populous haunts of men. 

The winds of autumn came over the w r oods, 
As the sun stole out from their solitudes, 
The moss was white on the maple's trunk, 
And dead from its arms the pale vine shrunk ; 
And ripened the mellow fruit hung, and red, 
Where the trees withered leaves around it shed. 
The foot of the reaper moved slow on the lawn, 
And the sickle cut clown the yellow corn ; 
The mower sung loud by the meadow side, 
When the mists of evening were spreading wide ; 
And the voice of the herdsman came up the lea, 
And the dance went round by the greenwood tree. 



The United States Reader. 



3. Then the hunter turned away from that scene, 
Where the home of his fathers once had been, 
And heard, by the distant and measured stroke, 
That the woodman hewed down the giant oak; 
And burning thoughts flashed over his mind, 
Of the white man's faith and love unkind. 
The moon of the harvest grew high and bright, 
As her golden horn pierced the cloud of white,— 
A footstep was heard in the rustling brake, 
Where the beech overshadowed the misty lake, 
And a moaning voice, and a plunge from the shore — 
And the hunter was seen on the hills no more. 

4. "When years had passed on, by that still lake side 
The fisher looked down through the silver tide, 
And there, on the smooth yellow sand displayed, 
A skeleton wasted and white was laid ; 

And 'twas seen, as the waters moved deep and slow, 
That the hand was still grasping a hunter's bow. 

Coinage in Massachusetts. — Everett. 

1. AMONG the indications not only of the commercial pros- 
perity of the colony, but of the reliance which the colonial 
government felt in the good-will of the ruling powers at home, 
we may mention that the colony of Massachusetts went so far 
as to establish a mint for the coinage v of silver (1652). There 
was no currenc} T , before this time, except the Enropean coins 
which may have found their way across the Atlantic, unless 
we choose to give the name of currency to the wampum, or 
wampumpcage (as it is more properly called), of the Indians.. 
As this actually served the purpose of coin among some of the 
native tribes, and the use of it was borrowed from them by the 
settlers, it may merit a moment's notice. 

2. This currency appears to have been first in use among the 
Indians of the Mohawk and other western tribes, who were 
more advanced in civilization than our Xew England Indians, 
who received it from them. Peage was the name of the sub- 
stance, which was of two kinds — black and white. Wampum, 
or wompum, is the Indian word for white; and as the white 
kind was the most common, wampumpeage- got to be the com- 



Colonial History. 



inon name of this substance, which was usually abbreviated 
into wampum. 

3. The black peage consisted of the small round spot in the 
inside of the shell, which is still usually called in this neigh- 
borhood by its Indian name of quahog. These round pieces 
were broken away from the rest of the shell, brought to a 
smooth and regular shape, drilled through the centre, and 
strung on threads. The white peage was the twisted ends of 
several small shells, broken off from the main part. These por- 
tions of shell, thus strung, were worn as bracelets and neck- 
laces, and wrought into belts of curious workmanship. They 
thus possessed an intrinsic value with the natives, for the pur- 
poses of ornament; and they were readily taken by them in 
exchange for their furs. 

4. When wrought into belts they had an extensive use 
among the Indian tribes, as presents at the negotiation 7 of 
treaties ; and for this purpose they were wrought in such a way 
as to furnish a guide to the memory in retaining and transmit- 
ting the traditions of the tribe. They were originally, there- 
fore, a mere article of merchandise, as, in fact, is also the case 
with gold and silver; but being, for the reasons named, es- 
teemed of value generally by the Indians, they were made use 
of by the Dutch in Xew York as a currency. The Indians of 
Block Island learned the use of them from the Dutch ; the 
Xarragansetts, from the Block Islanders, and the English set- 
tlers, from them. 

5. As soon as they began to be used as currency, they ac- 
quired a conventional 7 value. Six of the white beads, or three 
of the black ones, made an English penny, and a fathom length 
was rated in the gross at five shillings sterling. The process of 
coining was, as we have seen, exceedingly simple. Soger Wil- 
liams, in describing the quahog, calls it "a little thick shell- 
fish, which the Indians wade deep and dive for; and after they 
have eaten the meat there (in those which are good), they break 
out of the shell about half an inch of a black part of it, of 
which they make their Suckauhock or black money, which is to 
them precious." 



84 The United States Reader. 

6. This currency may be compared with the cowries, or small 
shells, used by the native races of Africa, for the same purpose. 
When the commissioners of the United Colonies, in 1645, made 
peace with the Narragansetts, they imposed upon them, among 
other conditions, a fine of two thousand fathoms of wampum. 
The Indians considered this as a very heavy burden ; and it was 
not till after the lapse of five years, and sending several times 
to demand it, that the whole was paid up. . . . 

7. But this currency was, of course, too rude to answer the 
purposes of an extensive commerce. The trade of New England 
was. as I have observed, very considerable at this period, and 
especially with the West Indies. A portion of the returns was 
made in bullion*. The West India seas, at this time, also 
swarmed with pirates or buccaneers; and as there was no cus- 
tom-houses and no Court of Admiralty in New England, it is 
greatly to be feared that some part of the spoils, made by these 
freebooters, found a market in this part of the country in the 
form of silver bullion. 

8. The growing trade of the inhabitants rendering a currency 
desirable, and the material being supplied in the manner alluded 
to, the General Court took into their hands, without the least 
scruple, this branch of the prerogative, and took order for the 
erection of a mint, and the coining of shillings, sixpences, and 
threepences. At first it was directed that the coins should have 
nothing but the letters N. E. on one side, and the Roman nu- 
merals XII., VI., and III., on the other; but it was soon after 
ordered, by the General Court, that the shillings should have, 
on one side, a pine-tree, with the word MASATVSETS around 
it ; and on the other the words NEW ENGLAND, AN. DOM., 
running around the exterior; and in the inner circle, the year 
1652 and the Roman numeral XII. Although this coin con- 
tinued to be struck for many years, the date of 1652 was never 
changed upon the shilling. The shillings of this coinage are 
occasionally still (in 1833) met with in circulation ; but those 
of the lower denominations are much more rare. . . . 

9. An amusing anecdote of this currency is contained in the 
memoirs of Thomas Hollis, to the following effect : " Sir Thomas 



1689.] Colonial History. 85 

Temple, brother of Sir William Temple, resided several years in 
Xew England during the commonwealth. After the Restoration, 
when he returned to England, the king sent for him, and dis- 
coursed with him on the state of affairs in Massachusetts, and 
discovered great warmth against that colony. Among other 
things, he said they had invaded his prerogative by coining 
money. Sir Thomas, who was a real friend to the colony, told 
his majesty that the colonists had but little acquaintance with 
law, and that they thought it no crime to make money for their 
own use. In the course of the conversation, Sir Thomas took 
some of the money out of his pocket, and presented it to the 
king. On one side of the coin was a pine-tree, of that kind 
which is thick and bushy at the top. Charles asked what tree 
that was. Sir Thomas informed him it was the royal oak which 
preserved his majesty's life. This account of the matter brought 
the king into good humor, and disposed him to hear what Sir 
Thomas had to say in their favor, calling them ' a parcel of 
honest dogs/ " — Anecdotes of Early Local History. 

Arbitrary Conduct of the King. — The opposition which Massa- 
chusetts had shown to the " Navigation Act," and other obnoxious laws of 
Parliament, displeased the king, Charles II., and he declared her charter void. 
His death occurring not long after, his successor, James II., pursued the same 
arbitrary policy, and, in 1686, deprived Massachusetts of her charter government. 
In the tame year, Andros was appointed royal governor of New England. 
These proceedings en the part of King James rendered him so unpopular, 
that, when the news of the English Revolution and of his dethronement 
reached Boston, in 1689, it caused great rejoicing. Andros and his officers, 
whose tyranny had made them odious to the people, were seized and sent to 
England, when the New England colonies established their former modes of 
government. 

King William's War. — James fled to France, and William, Prince 
of Orange, and Mary, his wife, the eldest daughter of James, were called to 
the English throne as king and queen of that country. The cause of the 
fugitive king was espoused by the French monarch ; and this, principally, led 
to a contest between the two. powers, known as King William's War, in which 
the respective colonists became involved. 

An expedition, fitted out by Massachusetts, commanded by Sir William 
Phipps, captured Port Royal, now Annapolis, Nova Scotia, and secured a large 
amount of booty. A second expedition, also commanded by Phipps, for the 
conquest of Canada, proved a failure. These were the most important events 



86 The United States Reader. [i692. 

of the contest in America. The war lasted from 1689 to the peace of Ryswick 
(nViwcfc), in 1697, a period of about eight years. The claims to territory in 
America remained as .before the "war. 

Salem Witchcraft.— During the war, King William, refusing to restore 
to Massachusetts the charter which James II. had taken away, granted a new 
one, which united Plymouth, Massachusetts, Maine, and Nova Scotia in a royal 
government. Upon Phipps was conferred the office of governor. 

One of the first acts of the new governor was the formation, in 1692, of a 
court to try certain persons who, because of their real or supposed strange con- 
duct, were accused of practising witchcraft. Most of the inhabitants of Salem 
and vicinity, where the accused parties lived, believed the accusations to be true; 
and, before the delusion was dispelled, twenty persons were put to death, more 
than fifty were tortured or frightened into confessing themselves guilty, and 
many suffered imprisonment. 

Witchcraft in Massachusetts. — Everett. 

1. Of the memorable incidents of the earlier period of the 
Massachusetts history, the fatal delusion relative to witchcraft 
is among the most celebrated. The extent to which this delu- 
sion proceeded in Salem has given a prominence to the tragical 
occurrences which took place there; but whatever reproach 
attaches to its prevalence, must be shared by other portions of 
Massachusetts. h\ point of fact, it is well known that no ex- 
clusive reproach can with justice be cast upon any part of Xew 
England, on account of a delusion which equally prevailed in 
the most enlightened countries in Europe, and received the 
countenance of the most learned and intelligent men and up- 
right magistrates. . . . 

2. As early as 1045, the first suspicion of witchcraft arose at 
Springfield, on Connecticut River. Several persons were sup- 
posed to be under an evil hand, and, among the rest, two of the 
minister's children ; and great pains were taken to prove the 
fact against some persons charged with the crime, but without 
success. The first execution for witchcraft in Xew England 
took place in Charlestown, in 1648. The. name of the sufferer 
was Margaret Jones. No detailed account is preserved of her 
imputed misdemeanors v , nor of the facts by which they were 
pretended to be proved. Governor "Winthrop informs us, in his 
Journal, that she was proved to have such a malignant touch, 



1655.] Colonial History. 87 

that whosoever she touched, man, woman, or child, with any 
affection of displeasure, was presently taken with deafness, vom- 
iting, or other violent pains or sickness. 

3. The poor woman, it seems, was. a medical practitioner in 
a small way; and one of the proofs of her witchcraft was that, 
though she used simple medicines, her patients got well. Her 
husband seems to have shared her bewitching powers. Shortly 
after her execution, he endeavored to procure a passage to Bar- 
badoes, in a vessel of three hundred tons, which lay at anchor 
oft' Charlestown, bound for that island, with one hundred and 
eighty tons of ballast in her hold, and eighty horses on board. 
The owners of the vessel refused to take the husband of a witch 
as a passenger; and it was immediately observed that this ves- 
sel, without any visible cause, began to roll, as if, according to 
the words of the historian, it would have turned over. 

4. This phenomenon 7 , continuing, was reported to the magis- 
trates then sitting in Boston, and being by them imputed to 
the diabolical 7 agency of Jones, a warrant was issued to appre- 
hend him. As the officer was passing over the ferry with his 
warrant, and the vessel was still rolling violently, some one in 
the ferry-boat jestingly asked the officer whether he "who could 
tame men, could not tame the vessel ? " He replied that he had 
that in his pocket which would perhaps tame the vessel and 
keep it quiet, and exhibited the warrant for arresting Jones. 
At this moment the vessel ceased rolling, and righted herself, 
after having been violently in motion for twelve hours. Jones 
was apprehended and thrown into prison, and from that time 
the ship " never moved in that kind any more." It does not 
appear, however, that Jones was executed. About the same 
time, it is stated that a woman w T as executed at Cambridge, and 
another at Dorchester, for the crime of witchcraft ; but no par- 
ticulars — not even the names of the parties — are preserved. 

5. In 1655 a most extraordinary case of imputed witchcraft 
occurred in Boston, — the victim, Mrs. Ann Hibbins. Her hus- 
band, who died the year before, had been the colony agent in 
England, had for several years filled the office of assistant, and 
was a merchant of note in Boston. In the latter part of his 



SS The United States Reader. [I65.5. 

life he met with heavy misfortunes, among others with the loss 
of five hundred pounds hy the carelessness of a shipmaster. 
These misfortunes appear to have been felt with peculiar sever- 
ity by his wife. According to Hutchinson, "they increased the 
natural crabbedness of his wife's temper," discomposed her 
mind, and made her turbulent and discontented. 

6. Her strange and unusual carriage raised a cry against her. 
Her behavior brought her under church censures, and caused 
her to be excommunicated''; and this probably not improving 
the quality of her temper, recorded by the historian, she fell at 
last under the suspicion of being a witch, and as such was 
brought to trial. The jury'found her guilty; but the magis- 
trates, who, at that period, acted as judges, refused to accept 
the verdict. But the popular fanaticism* was not, in this man- 
ner, to be defrauded of its prey. The case went to the General 
( lourt, popular clamor prevailed, she was declared guilty by the 
deputies, and executed,— a violation of the forms of justice not 
Less detestable than of its substance. 

7. It is to the credit of the magistrates that they had rejected 
the verdict of the jury ; and there were not wanting others in 
the community who accounted her innocent, and who under- 
took to trace the marks of an offended Providence against those 
who were forward in bringing her to trial. She was a member 
of tlie first church in Boston; and though she was excommu- 
nicated from its fellowship, Mr. Norton, the minister, appears 
lo have thought her innocent of witchcraft. He declared at 
his own table, some years afterward, in the presence of a com- 
pany of friends, that " the wife of a magistrate had been hanged 
as a witch, because she had more wit than her neighbors." 

8. On being asked to explain his meaning, he said that Mrs. 
Hibbins had seen two persons, who had persecuted her, talking 
together in the street, and had guessed they were talking of 
her. This happened to be the fact, and was set down as a 
proof positive that she was in league with the devil. She was 
confined for some time in prison ; made a will, disposing of her 
estate : appointed some of the principal gentlemen of the colony 
the executors v of her will, and expressed the hope that they 
would see her decently buried. She was executed in June, 1G5G. 



1692.] Colonial History. 89 

9. Other similar cases occurred between this period and the 
year 1G92, when the great tragedy was enacted at Salem, — the 
last occasion on which blood was shed under the influence of this 
cruel fanaticism. But as late as 1720, an instance of pretended 
witchcraft occurred at Littleton, in this State, differing in 
nothing but the absence of a tragical close from the Salem 
delusion. The parties pretending to be bewitched afterward 
removed to Medford, an^. the whole fraud was detected and 
exposed by the confession of the chief agent, mainly by the 
sagacious interference of the Eev. Mr. Turell of that place, 
whose interesting account has been preserved, and is well 
worth perusal. 

10. In contemplating this sorrowful page in the history of 
our ancestors, we must bear in mind that, as I have already 
intimated, no peculiar reproach attaches to them. They acted, 
on this occasion, upon principles which all professed, and in 
which the sincere in all parts of Christendom reposed an 1111- 
doubting faith. Circumstances have given to these melancholy 
transactions an unfortunate notoriety. It has attracted the 
public attention, both in this country and Europe, partly for 
the reason that this, and the persecution of the Quakers, stand 
out in dark relief on the annals of New England. In the older 
countries of the world, the most dreadful tragedies — the horrors 
of the Inquisition, the Sicilian Vespers, the massacre of St. 
Bartholomew's eve, the fires of Smithfield — are hardly signal- 
ized in the long line of strange and cruel incidents which fill 
the annals of Europe down into the eighteenth century. For 
ages there seems to have been no sense of the worth of human 
life; no mercy for human suffering. Before we undertake, in 
the self-sufficiency of a greatly improved age, to reflect upon 
the errors of our fathers, we should carefully consider in what 
our superiority over them in these matters consists, and then 
inquire from what it proceeds. — Anecdotes of Early Local 
History. 

Queen Anne's War. — Upon the death of James II., which occurred 
in France, the French monarch acknowledged his son King of England. This 



90 The United States Reader. [174s. 

tended to produce a spirit of resentment in England, where the crown had 
previously been settled upon Anne, the second daughter of James. While the 
English were making preparations for war, King William died, and Anne 
became Queen of England. The interference of France in the succession to the 
English crown, in connection with other causes, led to a war between England 
on the one side, and France and Spain on the other, which is known in America 
as Queen Anne's War; but in Europe, is called the War of the Spanish Suc- 
cession. Hostilities were commenced in 1702. 

The capture of Fort Royal, in 1710, by a for^e from Massachusetts, after an 
unsuccessful attempt three years before, was the most important event of the 
war in America. The name of the place was changed to Annapolis, in honor 
of the English queen, and Acadia was annexed to the British realm. The con- 
t* (fit continued about eleven years, being terminated by the treaty of Utrecht 
[u'trekt) in 171.3. 

King Gearge?8 W&r, — A peace of nearly thirty years followed, which 
was broken, during the reign of George II., by King George's War. This con- 
tot had its origin in European disputes, relating, principally, to the kingdom 
of Austria, and was therefore known in Europe as the War of the Austrian 
Succession. 

War having been declared between England and France in 1744, the colonists 
soon became involved. The most important event of the struggle in America 
was the taking of Louisbnrg [loo'is-burg), a fortress erected by the French, and 
which, from its strength, was called the Gibraltar of America. 

The capture of this place was effected in 1745, by a force, mostly of Xew 
England troops, under William Fepperill, aided by an English fleet commanded 
by < lommodore Warren. The contest between the two nations was terminated 
by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle {Jakes lah sha-pel'), in 1748, by which all ac- 
quisitions of territory made during the war were mutually restored. 

The Pilgrims.— Everett. 

[Extract from a speech delivered by Edward Everett, in 1845, on the anni- 
versary of the Landing of the Pilgrims,] 

I do not mean, Mr. President, to indulge in extravagant 

eulogy T . I am not blind to the imperfections of the Pilgrims. 
I mourn especially that they did not recognize in others the 
rights which they asserted for themselves. I deplore their faults, 
though the faults of the age. I am grieved that in pursuing 
the simplicity and purity of the Gospel, they could not have 
imbibed more of its lovely meekness. But so often as I revert 
to this painful contemplation, I am checked by the doubt, 
whether this great work could have been done by softer instru- 



1609.] Colonial History. 91 

ments. I doubt whether we have a right, living as we do in 
ease and luxury, to take for granted that this heavy burden 
could have been borne by more delicate frames and gentler tem- 
pers. "By their fruits ye shall know them/' Not by the 
graceful foliage which dallies with the summer breeze, not by 
the flower which hides away with the perfume which it scatters 
on the gale — but by the golden, perfect fruit, in which the rnys- 
terious life of the plant is garnered up, which the genial v earth 
and the kindling sun have ripened into the refreshment and 
food of man, and which, even when it perishes, leaves behind it 
the germs of continued and multiplying exuberances 

NEW YORK. 

Discovery of the Hudson River. — Henry Hudson, an English 
navigator, while sailing in the service of " The Dutch East India Company," 
in 1609, discovered the river which now bears his name. His object was to find 
a northwest passage to the Pacific Ocean ; in pursuance of which he sailed up 
the river to the head of ship navigation, and, in a small boat, continued his ex- 
plorations some miles further. The vessel in which this voyage was made was 
called the Half -Moon. 

Voyage of the Half -Moon — Brodliead. 

1. After trying in vain to find an opening to the westward, 
he put about, and passing the southern headland, which he now 
perceived was the one which Gosnold had discovered in 1G02, 
and named " Cape Cod," he stood off to sea again toward the 
southwest. In a fortnight Hudson arrived off the mouth of 
Chesapeake Bay, which he recognized as " the entrance into 
King's Eiver in Virginia, where our Englishmen are." But 
the temptation to meet his old friend Smith, who, disgusted 
with the distractions in the colony at Jamestown, and maimed 
by accidental wounds, was preparing to return to England, did 
not divert Hudson from the great object of his voyage. Con- 
tenting himself with a few soundings, he stood again to sea, 
and passing northwest along the coast of Maryland, he ran into 
a " great bay with rivers " — afterward called " South Eiver," 
and "Newport May," by the Dutch, and " Delaware," by the 
English — where the Half-Moon anchored. 



92 The United States Reader. [igoo. 

2. Finding the navigation so difficult, that " he that will 
thoroughly discover this great bay must have a small pinnace 
that must draw but four or five feet of water, to sound before 
him," Hudson stood out to sea again, and, running northward 
several days along a low sandy coast, with " broken islands," 
arrived, on the evening of the 2d of September, in sight of the 
" high hills" of Navesinck, then, as now, "a very good land to 
fall in with, and a pleasant land to see." The next morning 
he sailed onward until he came to "three great rivers," the 
most northerly of which he attempted to enter, but was pre- 
vented by the "very shoal bar before it." So, sending his boat 
before him to sound the way, he went in past Sandy Hook, and, 
on the evening of the 3d of September, 1009, anchored the 
Half-Moon in the bay, where the waters were alive with fish. 

3. For a week Hudson lingered in the lower bay, admiring 
the "goodly oaks "which garnished the neighboring shores, 
and holding frequent intercourse with the native savages of 
Monmouth, in New Jerse} r . The Half-Moon was visited in re- 
t urn by the wondering Indians, who flocked on board the strange 
vessel, clothed with mantles of feathers and robes of fur, and 
adorned with rude copper necklaces. Meanwhile, a boat's crew 
was sent to sound the river which opened to the northward. 
Passing through the Narrows, they found a noble harbor, with 
*• very good riding for ships." A little further on, they came 
to "the Kills, between Staten Island and Bergen Neck," a nar- 
row river to the westward, between two islands. The lands on 
both sides were " as pleasant with grass and flowers and goodly 
trees as ever they had seen, and very sweet smells came from 
them." 

4. Six miles up this river, they saw "an open sea," now 
known as Newark Bay. In the evening, as the boat was re- 
turning to the ship, the exploring party was set upon by two 
canoes full of savages; and one of the English sailors, John 
Coleman, was killed by an arrow shot in his throat. The next 
day Hudson buried, upon the adjacent beach, the comrade who 
had shared the dangers of his polar adventures, to become the 
first European victim of an Indian weapon in the placid waters 



ir,09.] Colonial History. 93 

he had now reached. To commemorate the event, Sandy 
tie? Hook was named "Coleman's Point." The ship was soon 
* visited by canoes full of native warriors ; but Hudson suspect- 
ing their good faith, took two of the savages and " put red 
coats on them/*' while the rest were not suffered to approach. 

5. Cautiously sounding her way through the lower bay, the 
Half-Moon at length "went into the river" past the Narrows, 
and anchored near the month of the Kills in " a very good har- 
bor for all winds." The native savages came at once on board, 
" making show of love ;" but Hudson, remembering Coleman's 
fate, " durst not trust them." The next morning, twenty-eight 
canoes, " made of single hollowed trees," and crowded with men, 
women, and children, visited the yacht. But none were suf- 
fered to come on board, though their oysters and beans were 
gladly purchased. In the afternoon, the Half-Moon ran six 
miles further up ; and the crew were enraptured by the loveli- 
ness of the surrounding country. " It is as beautiful a land as 
one can tread upon," said Hudson, " and abounds in all kinds 
of excellent ship-timber." 

6. The first of Europeans, Hudson now began to explore the 
great river which stretched before him to the north, opening, 
as he hoped, the way to Eastern seas. Slowly drifting upward 
with the flood-tide, he anchored one night just above Yonkers, 
in sight of "a high point of land, which showed out" five 
leagues off to the north. The next clay, a southeast wind car- 
rying him rapidly up Tappan and Haverstraw Bays, and be- 
yond the " strait" between Stony and Yerplanck's Points. Hud- 
son sailed onward through the majestic pass guarded by the 
frowning Donderberg, and at nightfall anchored his yacht near 
West Point, in the midst of the sublimest scenery of the " Mat- 
teawan* Mountains. 

T. The next morning was misty until the sun arose, and the 
grandeur of the overhanging highlands was again revealed. A 
fair south wind sprung up as the weather became clear ; and 
while the Half-Moon was getting under way, the two savages 
who had been detained captives on board at Sandy Hook, 

* The Indian name of" the Highlands. 



94 The United States Reader. [igoo. 

watching their opportunity, leaped out of a porthole and swam 
ashore, scornfully deriding the crew as the yacht sailed onward 
A bright autumnal day succeeded the misty morning. Run- 
ning sixty miles up along the varied shores which lined the 
deep channel, and delighted every moment with the ever-chang- 
ing scenery and the magnificent virgin forests which clothed 
the river-banks with their gorgeous autumnal hues, Hudson 
arrived, toward evening, opposite the loftier " mountains which 
lie from the river's side," and anchored the Half-Moon near 
Catskill landing, where he found a " very loving people, and 
very old men.'' 

8. The friendly natives flocked on board the yacht, as she 
remained lazily at anchor, the next morning, and brought the 
crew '"ears of Indian corn, and pumpkins, and tobacco," which 
were readily bought " for trifles." In the afternoon, Hudson 
went six miles further up tin; river, and anchored one night 
near the marshes which divide the channel, opposite the flour- 
ishing city which now bears his name. Early the next morn- 
ing he set sail again, and, slowly working his way through the 
Bhoaling channel and among the "small islands" which embar- 
rassed navigation, anchored, toward evening, about eighteen 
miles further np, between Schodac and Castleton. Here the 
Half- Moon remained at anchor all the next day. . . . 

9. With the flood-tide, on the following morning, the Half- 
Moon " ran higher up, two leagues above the shoals," and an- 
chored in deep water, near the site of the present city of Albany. 
The people of the country came flocking on board, and brought 
grapes and pumpkins, and beaver and otter skins, which were 
purchased for beads, knives, and hatchets. Here the yacht lin- 
gered several days. The carpenter went ashore, and made a new 
foreyard, while Hudson and his mate, "determined to try some 
of the chief men of the country, whether they had any treach- 
ery in them," took them down into the Half-Moon's cabin, and 
" gave them so much wine and aqua vita?, that they were all 
merry." An old Indian, stupefied with drink, remained on 
board, to the amazement of his simple countrymen, who "could 
not tell how to take it." The traditions of the aborigines v yet 



1609.] Colonial History. gS 

preserve the memory of this first revel, which was followed, the 
next day, by another visit from the reassured savages, one of 
whose chiefs, addressing Hudson, '-'made an oration, and showed 
him all the country round about." 

10. Everything now seemed to indicate that the Half-Moon 
had reached the head of ship navigation. The downward cur- 
rent was fresh and clear, the shoaling channel was narrow and 
obstructed : yet Hudson, unwilling, perhaps, to abandon his 
long-cherished hope, dispatched the mate, with a boat's crew, to 
sound the river higher up. After going "eight or nine" leagues 
further — probably to some distance above Waterford — and find- 
ing " but seven feet water, and inconstant soundings," the ex- 
ploring party returned late at night, and reported that they had 
" found it to be at an end for shipping to go in." Hudson now 
reluctantly prepared to return. His ascent of the river had 
occupied eleven days; his descent consumed as many more. . 

11. The yacht v anchored over night "on the other side of the 
river,", in the bay, near Hoboken. Hard by his anchorage, and 
upon "that s( of the river that is called Mcmna-hata" Hud- 
son noticed that "there was a cliff that looked of the color of a 
white green." Here he lay wind-bound the next day, and " saw 
no people to trouble " him. The following morning, just one 
month after his arrival at Saudy Hook, Hudson weighed anchor 
for the last time, and coming out of the "'great mouth of the 
great river," into which he had " run so far," he set all sail, and 
steered off again into the main sea. — History of Neiu York. 

[Hudson reached the shores of England in November of the same year, and was about to proceed 
to Holland, when he was detained by the English government, jealous of the advantages which the 
Dutch had gained by the important discovery he had made. It was several months before the Half- 
Moon was permitted to return home. Hudson made his fourth voyage in 1610. While in Hudson Bay, 
a mutiny occurring among his men, he, with eight who remained faithful to him, was put into an open 
boat and abandoned. Two ships were afterward sent from England to make search for him, but no 
tidings of thebg^d navigator could ever be gained.] 

Colonization of the Country. — The Dutch, claiming that Hudson's 
discoveries gave them a title to the country, in 1614 huilt a fort on Man-hat'tan 
Island. Their claim to territory included the whole region from Cape Cod to 
the southern shore of Delaware Bay. This became known as New Nether- 
lands, though the name was more generally applied to only that part actually 
in possession of the Dutch. 

The colonization of the country did not commence until 1623. In that year, 
5 



96 The U11 ited States Re a der. [ 1 6 4 7 . 

under the auspices of a new organization, known as " The Dutch West India 
Company/' two settlements were made — one on Manhattan Island, called New 
Amsterdam, and the other at Albany, called Fort Orange. The company, to 
encourage emigration, offered a large tract of land and certain privileges to every 
individual who would form a settlement of fifty persons. 

Governors of New Netherlands, — The first Dutch governor was 
Peter Minn-its; the second, "VVout'er Van Twil'ler; the third, Sir William 
Kieft {Jcceft); and the fourth and last, Peter Stuyvesant (sti've-sant). Kieft, 
who was haughty and unscrupulous, involved the colony in a strife with the 
Swedes on the Delaware, and the English on the Connecticut. He also, by his 
unjust and inhuman conduct, brought on a disastrous war with the Indians. 
The rule of Stuyvesant was vigorous, though often arbitrary. He conciliated v the 
Indians, settled the disputes with the people of Connecticut in relation to the 
western boundary of that colony, and gained by concpiest the Swedish territory 
on the banks of the Delaware Kiver (1647-64.) 

Character of Peter Stuyvesant. — Irving. 

[The following amusing sketch of the character of Governor Stuyvesant is 
extracted from " Knickerbocker's History of New York," by Washington Ir- 
ving. Although the striking traits of the character as represented correspond 
to the reality, the whole description is rather a playful satire than an authentic 
delineation.] 

1. Peter Stuyvesant was the last, and, like the renowned 
"Wouter Van Twiller, the best of our ancient Dutch governors, 
Wouter having surpassed all who preceded him, and Pieter or 
Piet, as he was socially called by the old Dutch burghers, who 
were ever prone to familiarize names, having never been equal- 
led by any successor. He was, in fact, the very man fitted by 
nature to retrieve the desperate fortunes of his beloved prov- 
ince, had not the fates, those most potent and unrelenting of 
all ancient spinsters v , destined them to inextricable v confusion. 

2. To say merely that he was a hero would be doing him 
great injustice : he was, in truth, a combination of heroes ; for 
he was of a sturdy, rawboned make like Ajax Telamon, with a 
pair of round shoulders that Hercules would have given his 
hide for (meaning his lion's hide), when he undertook to ease 
old Atlas of his load. He was, moreover, as Plutarch describes 
Coriolanus, not only terrible for the force of his arm. but 
likewise of his voice, which sounded as though it came out of 



Colonial History. 97 



a barrel ; and, like the self-same warrior, he possessed a sover- 
eign contempt for the sovereign people, and an iron aspect, 
which was enough of itself to make the very bowels of his ad- 
versaries quake with terror and dismay. 

3. All this martial excellency of appearance was inexpress- 
ibly heightened by an accidental advantage, with which I am 
surprised that neither Homer nor Virgil have graced any of 
their heroes. This was nothing less than a wooden leg, which 
was the only prize he had gained in bravely fighting the battles 
of his country, but of which he was so proud, that he was often 
heard to declare he valued it more than all his other limbs put 
together ; indeed, so highly did he esteem it, that he had it gal- 
lantly enchased and relieved with silver devices, which caused 
it to be related in divers histories and legends that he wore a 
silver leg. 

4. Like that choleric warrior Achilles (a-l-il'leez), he was 
somewhat subject to extempore bursts of passion, which were 
rather unpleasant to his favorites and attendants, whose per- 
ceptions he was apt to quicken, after the manner of his illustri- 
ous imitator, Peter the Great, by anointing their shoulders 
with his walking-staff. Though I cannot find that he had read 
Plato, or Aristotle, or Hobbe, or Bacon, or Algernon Sydney, 
or Tom Paine, yet did he sometimes manifest a shrewdness aud 
sagacity in his measures that one would hardly expect from a 
man who did not know Greek, and had never studied the an- 
cients. 

5. True it is, and I confess it with sorrow, that he had an un- 
reasonable aversion to experiments, and was fond of governing 
his province after the simplest manner; but then he contrived 
to keep it in better order than did the erudite T Kief t, though he 
had all the philosophers, ancient and modern, to assist and 
perplex him. I must likewise own that he made but very few 
laws, but then again he took care that those few were rigidly 
and impartially enforced ; and I do not know but justice, on 
the whole, was as well administered as if there had been vol- 
umes of sage acts and statutes yearly made, and daily neglected 
and forgotten. 



98 The United States Reader. 

6. lie was, in fact, the very reverse of his predecessors*, 
being neither tranquil and inert v , like Walter the Doubter, nor 
restless and fidgeting, like William the Testy ; but a man, or 
rather a governor, of such uncommon activity and decision of 
mind, that he never sought nor accepted the advice of others; 
depending bravely upon his single head, as would a hero of yore 
upon his single arm, to carry him through all difficulties and. 
dangers. To tell the simple truth, he wanted nothing more to 
complete him as a statesman than to think always right, for no 
one can say but that he always acted as he thought. 

7. He was never a man to flinch when he found himself in a 
scrape; but to dash forward through thick and thin, trusting, 
by hook or by crook, to make all things straight in the end. 
In a word, lie possessed in an eminent degree that great quality 
in a statesman, called perseverance by the polite, but nicknamed 
obstinacy by the vulgar, — a wonderful salve for official blun- 
ders, since he who perseveres in error without flinching getsjhe 
credit of boldness and consistency; while he who wavers in 
seeking to do what is right gets stigmatized* as a trimmer. 

8. This much is certain, and it is a maxim well worthy the 
attention of all legislators'', great and small, who stand shaking 
in the wind, irresolute which way to steer, that a ruler who 
follows his own will pleases himself, while he who seeks to sat- 
isfy the wishes and whims of others runs great risk of pleasing 
nobody. There is nothing, too, like putting down one's foot 
resolutely, when in doubt, and letting things take their course. 
The clock that stands still points right twice in the four-and- 
twenty hours, while others may keep going continually, and be 
continually going wipng. 

9. Nor did this magnanimous quality escape the discernment 
of the good people of Niew Xederlands ; on the contrary, so 
much were they struck with the independent will and vigorous 
resolution displayed on all occasions by their new governor, 
that they universally called him Hard-Koppig Piet, or Peter 
the Headstrong — a great compliment to the strength of his 
understanding. 

10. If from all that I have said thou dost not gather, worthy 



i664.i Colonial Histoiy. 99 

reader, that Peter Stuyvesant was a tough, sturdy, valiant, 
weather-beaten, mettlesome, obstinate, leathern-sided, lion- 
hearted, generous-spirited old governor, either I have written 
to but little purpose, or thou art dull at drawing conclusions. — 
Knickerbocker's History of New York. 

Conquest of New Netherlands by the English. 
BrodJiead. 

1. English jealousy had grown with the increasing commerce 
of Holland, and a rupture with the Dutch appeared to be near 
at hand. . . . The farmers of the revenue had complained that 
traders to Virginia, New England, Maryland, and Long Island 
were constantly conveying great quantities of tobacco to the 
neighboring Dutch plantations, the customs on which /'would 
amount to ten thousand pounds per annum or upward;" and 
the plantation Board had taken measures to put the British 
Acts of Navigation and Trade " carefully in execution." The 
brother of Governor Berkeley, too, coveted New Jersey. 

2. To accomplish all objects at one blow, England now de- 
termined boldly to rob Holland of her American province. 
The king accordingly sealed a patent granting to the Duke of 
York and Albany a large territory in America, comprehending 
Long Island and the islands in its neighborhood — his title to 
which Lord Stirling had released — and all the lands and rivers 
from the west side of the Connecticut River to the east side of 
Delaware Bay. This sweeping grant included the whole of New 
Netherlands and a part of the territory of Connecticut, which, 
two years before, Charles had confirmed to Winthrop and his 
associates. 

3. The Dnke of York lost no time in giving effect to his 
patent. As Lord High Admiral, he directed the fleet. Four 
ships, the Guinea, of thirty-six guns ; the Elias, of thirty ; the 
Martin, of sixteen ; and the William and Nicholas, of ten, were 
detached for service against New Netherlands, and about four 
hundred and fifty regular soldiers, with their officers, were em- 
barked. The command of the expedition was entrusted to 
Colonel Eichard Nicolls, a faithful Royalist, who had served 



ioo The United States Reader. [iec4. 

under Turenne with James, and had been made one of the 
gentlemen of his bed-chamber. 

4. Nicolls was also appointed to be the Duke's deputy-gov- 
ernor, after the Dutch possessions should have been reduced. 
With Nicolls were associated Sir Robert Carr, Colonel George 
Cartwright, and Samuel Maverick, as royal commissioners, to 
visit the several colonies in New England. These commission- 
ers were furnished with detailed instructions; and the New 
England governments were required by royal letters to "join 
and assist them vigorously " in reducing the Dutch to subjec- 
tion. A month after the departure of the squadron, the Duke 
of York conveyed to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret all 
the territory between the Hudson and Delaware Rivers, from 
Cape May north to forty-one degrees and forty minutes of lati- 
tude, hereafter to be called by the name or names of Nova 
Csesarea (sez-ah-re'ah), or New Jersey. 

5. Intelligence from Boston that an English expedition 
against Now Netherlands had sailedfrom Portsmouth was soon 
communicated to Stnyvesanl by Captain Thomas Willett ; and 
the burgomasters 7 and schepens v of New Amsterdam were sum- 
moned to assist the council with their advice. . . . 

6. AVhen the truth of Willett's intelligence became confirmed, 
the council sent an express to recall Stuyvesant from Fort 
Orange. Hurrying back to the capital, the anxious director 
endeavored to redeem the time which had been lost. The 
municipal authorities ordered one-third of the inhabitants, 
without exception, to labor every third day at the fortifications; 
organized a permanent guard; forbade the brewers to malt any 
grain; and called on the provincial government for artillery 
and ammunition. Six pieces, beside the fourteen previously 
allotted, and a thousand pounds of powder, were accordingly 
granted to the city. The colonists around Fort Orange, plead- 
ing their own danger from the savages, could afford no help ; 
but the soldiers at Esopus [now Kingston] were ordered to come 
down, after leaving a small garrison* at the Ronduit.* 

7. In the meantime, the English squadron had anchored just 

* The Ronduit, a small fort ; hence the name Rondout. 



1664.] Colonial History. ior 

below the Narrows, in Nyack Bay, between New Utrecht and 
Coney Island. The mouth of the river was shut up; commu- 
nication between Long Island and Manhattan, Bergen and 
Achter Cul, interrupted; several yachts, on their way to the 
South River, captured ; and the block-house on the opposite 
shore of Staten Island seized Stuyvesant now dispatched • 
Councilor De Decker, Burgomaster Van der Grist, and two 
Domines Megapolen'sis, with a letter to the English comman- 
ders, inquiring why they had come, and why they continued at 
Nyack without giving notice. 

8. The next morning, which was Saturday, Nicolls sent 
Colonel Cartwright, Captain Needham, Captain Groves, and 
Mr. Thomas Delavall, up to Fort Amsterdam, with a summons 
for the surrender of " the town situate on the island, and com- 
monly known by the name of Manhattoes, with all the forts 
thereunto belonging." This summons was accompanied by a 
proclamation declaring that all who would submit to his ma- 
jesty's government should be protected "in his majesty's laws 
and justice," and peaceably enjoy their property. Stuyvesant 
immediately called together the council and burgomasters, but 
would not allow the terms offered by Nicolls to be communi- 
cated to the people, lest they might insist on capitulatiug. 

9. In a short time, several of the burghers v and city officers 
assembled at the Stadt-Huys [State-House]. It was determined 
to prevent the enemy from surprising the town; but, as opinion 
was generally against protracted resistance, a copy of the En- 
glish communication was asked from the director. On the follow- 
ing Monday, 4;he burgomasters explained to a meeting of the 
citizens the terms offered by Nicolls. But this would not suffice ; 
a copy of the paper itself must be exhibited. Stuyvesant then 
went in person to the meeting. " Such a course," said he, 
" would discourage the people." All his efforts, however, were 
vain ; and the director, protesting that he should not be held 
answerable for " the calamitous consequences," was obliged to 
yield to the popular will. 

10. Nicolls now addressed a letter to Winthrop, who, with 
other commissioners from New England, had joined the squad- 



102 The United States Reader. [1664. 

ron, authorizing him to assure Stuyvesant that, if Manhattan 
should be delivered up to the king, "any people from the 
Netherlands may freely come and plant there, or thereabouts ; 
and such vessels of their own country may freely come thither, 
and any of them may as freely return home in vessels of their 
own country." Visiting the city under a flag of truce, Win- 
throp delivered this to Stuyvesant outside the fort, and urged 
him to surrender. The director declined ; and, returning to 
the fort, he opened Nicolls' letter before the council and burgo- 
masters, who desired that it should be communicated, as "all 
which regarded the public welfare ought to be made public." 

11. Against this Stuyvesant earnestly remonstrated; and, 
finding that the burgomasters continued firm, in a fit of pas- 
sion he " tore the letter in pieces." The citizens, suddenly ceas- 
ing their work at the palisades, hurried to the Stadt-IIuys, and 
sent three of their number to the fort to demand the letter. In 
vain the director hastened to pacify the burghers, and urge 
them to go on with the fortifications. " Complaints and 
curses " were uttered on all sides against the company's mis- 
goyernment; resistance was declared to be idle ; "the letter! 
the letter! " was the general cry. To avoid a mutiny, Stuyve- 
sant yielded, and a copy, made out from the collected fragments, 
was handed to the burgomasters. 

12. In answer, however, to Nicolls' summons, he submitted 
a long justification of the Dutch title ; yet, while protesting 
against any breach of the peace between the king and the 
States General, "for the hinderance and prevention of all 
differences, and the spilling of innocent blood, not only in 
these parts, but also in Europe," he offered to treat. " Long 
Island is gone and lost;" the capital "cannot hold out long," 
was the last dispatch to the " Lords Majors " of New Nether- 
lands, which its director sent off that night " in silence through 
Hell-gate." 

13. Observing Stuyvesant's reluctance to surrender, Nicolls 
directed Captain Hyde, who commanded the squadron, to re- 
duce the fort. Two of the ships accordingly landed their troops 
just below Breuckelen [Brooklyn], where volunteers from New 



1664.] Colonial History. 103 

England and the Long Island villages had already encamped. 
The oth^r two, coming lip with full sail, passed in front of 
Fort Amsterdam, and anchored between it aud Nutten Island 
[Governor's Island]. Standing on one of the angles of the for- 
tress — an artilleryman with a lighted match at his side — the 
director watched their approach. At this moment, the two 
Domines Megapolensis, imploring him not to begin hostilities, 
led Stuyvesant from the rampart, who then, with a hundred of 
the garrison, went into the city to resist the landing of the 
English. 

14. Hoping on against hope, the director now sent Council- 
or De Decker, Secretary Van Euyven, Burgomaster Steenwyck, 
and Schepen Cousseau, with a letter to Nicolls, stating that, 
though he felt bound " to stand the storm," he desired, if pos- 
sible, to arrange an accommodation. But the English com- 
mander merely declared', " To-morrow I will speak with you at 
Manhattan." " Friends/' was the answer, " will be welcome, if 
they come in a friendly manner." "I shall come with ships 
and soldiers," replied Xicolls ; " raise the white flag of peace at 
the fort, and then something may be considered." 

15. When this imperious message became known, men, avo- 
men, and children flocked to the director, beseeching him to 
submit. His only answer was, " I would- much rather be car- 
ried out dead." The next day, the city authorities, clergymen, 
and the officers of the burgher-guard, assembling at the Stadt- 
Huys at the suggestion of Domine Megapolensis, adopted a 
remonstrance to the director, exhibiting the hopeless situation 
of New Amsterdam, on all sides "encompassed and hemmed in 
by enemies," and protesting against any further opposition to 
the will of G-od. Besides the schout, burgomasters, and schep- 
ens, the remonstrance was signed by Wilmerdonck and eighty- 
five of the principal inhabitants, among whom was Stuyvesant's 
own son, Balthazar. 

16. At last the director was obliged to yield. Although there 
were now fifteen hundred souls in New Amsterdam, there were 
not more than two hundred and fifty men able to bear arms, 
besides the one hundred and fifty regular soldiers. The people 



104 The United States Reader. [1664. 

had at length refused to be called out, and the regular troops 
were already heard talking of " where booty is to be £pund, and 
where the young women live who wear gold chains.'*' 

17. The city, entirely open along both rivers, was shut on the 
northern side by a breast-work and palisades, which, though 
sufficient to keep out the savages, afforded no defense against a 
military siege. There were scarcely six hundred pounds of 
serviceable powder in store. A council of war had reported 
Fort Amsterdam untenable ; for, though it mounted twenty- 
four guns, its single wall of earth, not more than ten feet high 
and four thick, was almost touched by the private dwellings 
clustered around, and was commanded, within a pistol-shot, by 
hills on the north, over which ran the " Heereweg," or Broadway. 

18. Upon the faith of Nicolls' promise to deliver back the 
city and fort, "in case the difference of the limits of this prov- 
ince be agreed upon betwixt his majesty of England and the 
High Mighty States General,'' Stuyvesanfc now commissioned 
Councilor John de Decker, Captain Nicholas Varlett, Doctor 
Samuel Megapolensis, Burgomaster Cornclis Steenwyck, old 
Burgomaster Oloff Stevensen van Cortlandt, and old Schepen 
Jacques Gousseau, to agree upon articles with the English com- 
mander or his representatives. Nicolls, on his part, appointed 
Sir Robert Carr and Colonel George Cartwright, John Win- 
throp and Samuel Willys of Connecticut, and Thomas Clarke 
and John Pynchon of Massachusetts. " The reason why 
those of Boston and Connecticut were joined," afterward ex- 
plained the royal commander, "was because those two colonies 
should hold themselves the more engaged with us, if the Dutch 
had been over-confident of their strength." 

10. At eight o'clock the next morning, which was Saturday, 
the commissioners on both sides met at Stuyvesant's " bouwery," 
and arranged the terms of capitulation*. The only difference 
which arose was respecting the Dutch soldiers, whom the En- 
glish refused to convey back to Holland. The articles of capit- 
ulation promised the Dutch security in their property, customs 
of inheritance, liberty of conscience, and church discipline. 
The principal officers of Manhattan were to continue for the 



1664.] Colonial History. io5 

present unchanged, and the town was to be allowed to choose 
deputies, with " free voices in all public affairs/' 

20. Owners of property in Fort Orange might, if they 
pleased, " slight the fortifications there," and enjoy their houses 
"as people do where there is no fort." For six months there 
was to be free intercourse with Holland. Public records were 
to be respected. The articles, consented to by Nicolls, were to 
be ratified by Stuyvesant the next Monday morning at eight 
o'clock, and within two hours afterward, the " fort and town 
called New Amsterdam, upon the isle of Manhattoes," were to 
be delivered up, and the military officers and soldiers were to 
" march out with their arms, drums beating, and colors flying, 
and lighted matches." 

21. On the following Monday morning at eight o'clock, Stuy- 
vesant, at the head of the garrison, marched out of Fort Am- 
sterdam with all the honors of war, and led his soldiers down 
the Beaver Lane to the water-side, whence they were embarked 
for Holland. An English corporal's v -guard at the same time 
took possession of the fort; and Nicolls and Carr, with their 
two companies, about a hundred and seventy strong, entered 
the city, while Cartwright took possession of the gates and the 
Stadt-Huys. The New England and Long Island volunteers^ 
however, were prudently kept at the Breuklen ferry, " as the 
citizens dreaded most being plundered by them." The English 
flag was hoisted on Fort Amsterdam, the name of which was 
immediately changed to "Fort James." 

22. Ni colls was now proclaimed by the burgomasters deputy- 
governor for the Duke of York ; in compliment to whom he 
directed that the city of New Amsterdam should thenceforth 
be known as " New York." To Nicolls' European eye the 
Dutch metropolis, with its earthen fort inclosing a windmill 
and a high flag-staff, a prison, and a governor's house, and a 
double-roofed church, above which loomed a square tower, its 
gallows and whipping-post at the river's side, and its rows of 
houses which hugged the citadel, presented but a mean appear- 
ance, Yet, before long, he described it to the duke as " the 
best of all his majesty's " towns in America," and assured his 



106 The United States Reader, [1738. 

royal highness that, with proper management, "within five 
years the staple* of America will be drawn hither, of which the 
brethren of Boston are very sensible." — History of the State 
of Xew York. 

First English Governor, — Nicolls was the first English governor. 
The name of the province, as well as that of New Amsterdam, was changed to 
New York ; and Fort Orange received the name of Albany. In 1673, during 
a war between England and Holland, the Dutch regained their former posses- 
sions ; but after a period of fifteen months, returned them to the English. 
Andros was then appointed governor. 

Negro J'/ot. — In 1 741, several incendiary 7 fires occurred in the city of 
New York, and a house was robbed by slaves. Witnesses testified that the ne- 
groes had conspired to burn the city, murder the inhabitants, and set up a gov- 
ernment of their own. An intense excitement followed; and before it was 
allayed more than thirty persons, condemned as having been engaged in the 
alleged plot, were executed, and others were transported. A plot of some kind 
there may have been, though it is certain the accounts of it were greatly exag- 
gerated, and many innocent persons suffered. 

Subsequent History. — The history of New York during the next few 
years, and till the commencement of the French and Indian War, contains no 
events of much importance. During King George's War, which commenced in 
1744 and continued nearly four years, the Indians, in alliance with the French, 
made frequent incursions into the territory between Albany and Crown Point, 
and a number of skirmishes took place ; but in the great final struggle for terri- 
tory between England and France, which had its beginning in 1754, New York 
took no inconsiderable part. 

NEW JERSEY. 

The Dutch, who included New Jersey in the province of New Netherlands, 
established a trading-post at Bergen as early as 1622; but the colonization of the 
country did not commence till 1664, Avhen a settlement was made at Elizabeth- 
town (now Elizabeth) by emigrants from Long Island. 

Previous to this, however, this portion of New Netherlands had been sold by 
the Duke of York to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, and was named 
New Jersey in honor of the latter, who had been governor of the island of Jersey 
in the English Channel. Berkeley's interest in the province having been sold, 
and afterward assigned to William Penn and other Quakers, the whole territory 
was divided into two portions, Carteret taking the eastern, known as East Jer- 
sey, and the Quakers taking the western, known as West Jersey. In 16S2, 
New Jersey became the exclusive property of Quakers, William Penn and 
eleven of his brethren having in that year purchased the eastern division. In 
1702, it was given up by the proprietors, and formed, with New York, a royal 
province, and thus continued till 1738, when it became a separate province. 



1634.] Colonial History. 107 



MARYLAND. 

Charter. — By the second charter granted to the London Company, the 
limits of Virginia embraced all the territory which afterward formed the states 
of Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina; but, by the dissolution of the com- 
pany in 1624, the whole region became the property of the crown. In 1631, 
William Clay'borne obtained a license from Charles I. to traffic with the In- 
dians ; and, under this authority, a trading-post was established on an island in 
Chesapeake Bay, and another at the mouth of the Susquehanna. 

Influenced by a desire to provide an asylum for Catholics, then persecuted in 
England, Sir George Cal'vert, a Roman Catholic nobleman, whose title was 
Lord Baltimore, applied for a charter to establish a colony in America. The 
king, Charles I., readily agreed to make the grant, but before the document re- 
ceived the royal seal, Calvert died. It was then issued to Ce'cil Calvert, son of 
Sir George, who, by the death of his father, inherited the title of Lord Baltimore. 

This charter was the most liberal one, iu every respect, that had thus far 
been granted by the English Crown, for it did not deny equality in religious 
rights and civil freedom to any. The province was called Maryland, in honor 
of Henrietta Maria, wife of the king. 

Settlement of St, Mary's. — The first body of emigrants sent by Lord 
Baltimore consisted of about two hundred persons, mostly Roman Catholics. 
They arrived in 1634, and at once commenced a settlement, which they antici- 
pated would become a great city, calling it St. Mary's. Leonard Calvert, 
brother of the proprietor, was the first governor. 

Commencement of Colonization in Maryland. 
Bancroft. 

1. Ox Friday, the 22d of November, with a small but favor- 
ing gale, Leonard Calvert, and about two hundred people, most 
of them Eoman Catholic gentlemen and their servants, in the 
Ark and the Dove, a ship of large burden, and a pinnace, set 
sail for the northern bank of the Potomac. Having stayed by 
the way in Barbadoes and St. Christopher, it was not till Feb- 
ruary of the following year [1634] that they arrived at Point 
Comfort, in Virginia ; where, in obedience to the express let- 
ters of King Charles, they were welcomed by Harvey with 
courtesy and humanity. Clayborne also appeared, but it was 
as a prophet of ill-omen, to terrify the company by predicting 
the fixed hostility of the natives. 

2. Leaving Point Comfort, Calvert sailed into the Potomac ; 



io8 The United States Reader. [ir>34. 

and, with the pinnace, ascended the stream. A cross was planted 
on an island, and the country claimed for Christ and for En- 
gland. At about forty-seven leagues above the month of the 
river, he found the village of Piscataqna, an Indian settlement, 
nearly opposite. Mount Vernon. The chieftain of the tribe 
would neither bid him go nor stay ; " he might use his own dis- 
cretion.'' It did not seem safe for the English to plant the 
first settlement so high up the river; Calvert descended the 
stream, examining, in his barge, the creeks and estuaries'' nearer 
the Chesapeake; he entered the river which is now called St. 
Mary's, and which he named St. George's; and, about four 
leagues from its junction with the Potomac, he anchored at the 
Indian town of Goacomoco. 

3. The native inhabitants, having suffered from the superior 
power of the Snsquehannas, who occupied the district between 
the bays, had already resolved to remove into places of more 
security, in the interior; and many of them had begun to mi- 
grate before the English arrived. To Calvert, the spot seemed 
convenient for a plantation; it was easy, by presents of cloth 
and axes, of hoes and knives, to gain the good-will of the 
natives, and to purchase their rights to the soil which they 
were preparing to abandon. They readily gave consent that 
the English should immediately occupy one-half of their town, 
and, after the harvest, should become the exclusive tenants of 
the whole. Mutual promises of friendship and peace were 
made; so that, upon the twenty-seventh of March, the Catho- 
lics took quiet possession of the little place; and religious 
liberty obtained a home, its only home in the wide world, at 
the humble village which bore the name of St. Mary's. 

4. Three days after the landing of Calvert, the Ark and the 
Dove anchored in the harbor. Sir John Harvey soon arrived 
on a visit ; the native chiefs, also, came to welcome or to watch 
the emigrants, and were so well received that they resolved to 
give perpetuity to their league of amity with the English. 
The Indian women taught the wives of the new-comers to 
make bread of maize; the warriors of the tribes instructed the 
huntsmen how rich were the forests of America in game, and 



1634.] Colonial History. 109 

joined them in the chase. And, as' the season of the year in- 
vited to the pursuits of agriculture, and the English had come 
into possession of ground already subdued, they were able, at 
once, to possess cornfields and gardens, and prepare the wealth 
of successful husbandry 7 . 

5. Virginia, from its surplus produce, could furnish a tem- 
poral*}^ supply of food, and all kinds of domestic cattle. Xo 
sufferings were endured; no fears of want were excited; the 
foundation of the colony of Maryland was peacefully and hap- 
pily laid. Within six months, it had advanced more than Vir- 
ginia had done in as many years. The proprietary continued, 
with great liberality, to provide everything that was necessary 
for its comfort and protection, and spared no cost to promote 
its interests; expending, with the aid of his friends, upward 
of forty thousand pounds sterling. 

6. But far more memorable 7 was the character of the Mary- 
land institutions. Every other country in the world had per- 
secuting laws; through the benign administration of the gov- 
ernment of that province, no person professing to believe in 
Jesus Christ was permitted to be molested on account of re- 
ligion. Under the munificence 7 and superintending mildness 
of Baltimore, the dreary wilderness was soon quickened with 
the swarming life and activity of prosperous settlements; the 
Eoman Catholics, who were oppressed by the laws of England, 
were sure to find a peaceful asylum in the quiet harbors of 
the Chesapeake'; and there, too, Protestants were sheltered 
against Protestant intolerance. 

7. Such were the beautiful auspices under which Maryland 
started into being ; its prosperity and peace seemed assured ; 
the interests of its people and its proprietary were united; and 
for some years its internal peace and harmony were undisturbed 
by domestic faction. Its history is the history of benevolence, 
gratitude, and toleration. Everything breathed peace but 
Clayborne. Dangers could only grow out of external causes, 
and were eventually the sad consequences of the revolution in 
England. — History of the United States. 



no The United States Reader. [1715. 

Subsequent History of the Colony. — Clay borne, who had refused 
to submit to the authority of the governor, in 1G45 incited a rebellion, which 
compelled Calvert to seek safety for a time in Virginia. After the governor 
resumed his office, the Assembly enacted a law known as the " Toleration Act," 
which secured the free exercise of religious opinions to all persons professing 
belief in Jesus Christ. Thus did the right promised by the charter receive the 
sanction of law. 

During the supremacy* of Cromwell in England, Parliament appointed 'com- 
missioners to administer the government of the colony. The Protestants gain- 
ing a majority in the Assembly, the Catholics were deprived of their rights as 
citizens, and an act was passed declaring them not entitled to the protection of 
the laws. A civil war between the Catholics and the Protestants followed. 
After Cromwell's death, the rights of Lord Baltimore were restored to him. 

Upon the death of Cecil Calvert, his son Charles became the proprietor of the 
province, of which he retained possession until deprived of it by King William, 
in 1G91. In 1715 the proprietor's rights were restored to his infant heir, the 
fourth Lord Baltimore, and Maryland remained a proprietary government from 
that time till the Revolution. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Grant to William JPenn, — Actuated by a desire to found a colony 
where civil and religious liberty might be enjoyed, and where the people might 
dwell together in peace, William Penn* obtained from Charles II. a tract of land 
west of the Delaware. The domain thus granted was called Pennsylvania.! 
From the Duke of York, Penn also obtained a grant of Delaware, then called 
" The Territories," or " The Three Lower Counties on the Delaware." 

Founding of Philadelphia. — JPenn's Treaty. — Though small 
settlements of Swedes had been previously made within the limits of both Penn- 
sylvania and Delaware, the permanent settlement of the former dates from 
the founding of Philadelphia in 1682, by Penn. After several conferences with 
the Indians, he met them beneath the wide-spreading elm, at a place now called 
Kensington, a part of Philadelphia, where he made his famous "treaty of peace 
and friendship " with the " red men." This treaty was " never sworn to and 
never broken." 

Treatment of the Swedes.— To the Swedes on the Delaware, Penn 
gave assurance that they should not be molested in their religion or laws. The 
wisdom of his course toward the Swedes and Indians, as well as of his government 



* William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, was the son of an English admiral, who left, at 
his death, a large estate to his son, and a considerahle claim upon the government for money ad- 
vanced by him to carry on several important expeditions, when the finances of England were ex- 
hausted. He early embraced the religion of the Quakers, who were then a new sect in England. 

t The word sylva means a wood or forest. William Penn, thinking that si/lnania \vou\d bean 
appropriate name for a land covered with forest, suggested it for his territory. The prefix Penn was 
put to the word, in honor, as the king said, of Peun's father. 



1718.] Colonial History. in 

in general, was soon apparent ; for the colony had a more rapid and peaceful 
growth than any other in America. 

Subsequent History. — Upon the death of Penn, which occurred in 
England in 1718, he left his American possessions to his sons. They adminis- 
tered the government, most of the time by deputies, until the Revolution, when • 
their claims were purchased by the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 

Penn's Treaty with the Indians. 

1. William Penn" took the utmost care to protect the Indians 
in their rights, and to prevent the encroachments of white men. 
For this purpose he ordered all goods sold to the Indians to be 
first tested ; that wrongs done to Indians should be punished 
as those done to white men ; and that all differences should be 
settled by twelve men, six planters, and six Indians. These 
stipulations in favor of the poor natives will forever immortal- 
ize v the name of William Penn; for, soaring above the preju- 
dices and customs of other adventurers, who considered them 
a lawful prey, whom they might defraud at pleasure, he con- 
sidered them as brethren, rational beings, who, in proportion 
to their ignorance, were entitled to his fatherly protection and 
care. 

2. Soon after his arrival, he had a meeting with the Indians 
to confirm the treaty; for his scrupulous morality did not per- 
mit him to look upon the king's patent as sufficient to estab- 
lish his right to the country, without purchasing it by fair and 
open bargain of the natives, to whom only it properly belonged. 
Near the city of Philadelphia there was an elm-tree of a pro- 
digious size, to which the leaders on both sides repaired. Penn 
appeared in his usual dress, and, on his arrival, he found the 
sachems and their tribes assembling. They were seen in the 
woods as far as the eye could reach, and looked frightful, both 
on account of their number and their arms. The Quakers 
were unarmed, and but a handful in comparison. 

3. When the sachems were all seated, William Penn is said 
to have addressed the chief of them in the following words : 
"The Great Spirit, who made us and thee, and who rules in 
heaven and earth, knows that I and my friends have a hearty 
desire to live in friendship with thee, and to serve thee to the 



112 The United States Reader. [1664. 

utmost of our power. It is not our custom to use hostile weap- 
ons against our fellow-creatures, for which reason we have 
come unarmed. Our object is not to do injury, and thus pro- 
voke the Great Spirit, but to do good. We are now met on the 
broad pathway of good faith and good will, so that no advan- 
tage is to be taken on either side.'' 

4. The great elm-tree, under which this treaty was made, 
became celebrated on that account, and when the British were 
quartered near it, during the war of American Independence, 
their general so respected it, that, when his soldiers were cut- 
ting down every tree for firewood, lie placed a sentinel under it, 
that not a branch of it might be touched. A few years ago it 
was blown down, when it was split into wood, and many cups, 
bowls, and other articles made of it, to be kept as memo- 
rials. 

5. As to the roll of parchment containing the treaty, it was 
shown (<> Governor Keith at a conference in 1722, about forty 
years after it was signed; and a respectable missionary informs- 
us, that, between the years 1770 and 1780, the Indians minutely 
related to him what had passed between William Penn and 
their forefathers. 

DELAWARE. 

Settlement. — The settlement of Delaware may be said to have had its 
origin in the desire of Gns-ta'vns Adolphus, the renowned king of Sweden, to 
found a free colony in the New World for all persecuted Christians. His death 
occurring before the project was undertaken, a delay of several years followed ; 
but finally a charter was granted by the government of that country to the 
Swedish West India Company. In 1G38, a body of emigrants, sent out by the 
company under the care of Minuits, a former governor of New Netherlands, 
arrived at Cape Hen-lo'pen. Having purchased of the Indians all the lands 
from the cape to the falls in the Delaware, at Trenton, they commenced a settle- 
ment on Chris-ti-an'a Creek, near the present site of Wilmington. To the 
country thus purchased was given the name of New Sweden. 

Conquest by the Dutch. — Other settlements were formed, but the one 
on Tin'i-cum Island, a few miles below Philadelphia, was made the capital. 
The Dutch, regarding these settlements as intrusions upon their territory of 
New Netherlands, Governor Stuyvesant proceeded against the Swedes, in 1655, 
and subjected them to the authority of Holland, which government retained 
possession of the country till 1664. 



1733.] Colonial History. 113 

Subsequent History. — During the period from 1664 to 1682, Delaware,* 
being claimed by the Duke of York, formed a part of the province of New York. 
By the grant to Penn, in 16S2, it was united to Pennsylvania; and although 
the settlers in " The Territories " became dissatisfied with Penn's government, 
and were granted an Assembly of their own, Pennsylvania and Delaware con- 
tinued under one governor until the Revolution. 

NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA. 

Settlements. — The earliest attempts to settle North Carolina, as before 
described, were made by parties sent by Raleigh in 1585 and 1587. More than 
sixty years later, probably in 1650, emigrants from Virginia made a settlement 
upon the Cho-wan' River, near the present village of E'den-ton. 

In 1663, a vast territory, south of Virginia, was granted by Charles II. to 
Lord Clar'en-don and seven other noblemen of England ; and, in the same year, 
a government was instituted over the settlement on the Chowan, which was 
called " The Albemarle County Colony." Two years later a second colony was 
planted in North Carolina. A company from Barbadoes (bar-ba'doz) selected a 
place near Wilmington, and there established " The Clarendon County Colony." 
It having been discovered that the settlement on the Chowan was outside of the 
limits of the domain granted to Clarendon and associates, a new grant was made 
to the same parties, by which the boundaries were extended so as to embrace the 
country from Virginia to about the middle of Florida. 

South Carolina. — In 1670, a colony, known as " The Carteret County 
Colony," was planted on the western bank of the Ashley River ; but this, in 
consequence of not being well located for commercial facilities, was removed, 
ten years after, to the junction of the Cooper and Ashley rivers, and thus the 
foundation of Charleston was laid. In 1729, Carolina t was sold to the King 
of England, and separated into North and South Carolina. Erom that time 
till the Revolution they were royal provinces. 

GEORGIA. 

Grant to Oglethorpe. — Though Spain claimed the territory of Geor- 
gia as a part of Florida, the English king, George II., disregarded the claim ; 
and, in 1732, granted to a corporation, consisting of James Oglethorpe (oY//- 
ihorp) and twenty other trustees, for twenty-one years, all the country between 
the Savannah and the Altamaha (al-ta-ma-haiv ') . In honor of the king it was 
called Georgia. The object of the trustees was to. provide an asylum for their 
destitute countrymen, the grant being " in trust for the poor." 

Settlement. — The first settlement was made in 1733, at Savannah. The 

* Delaware bay and river were so named in honor of Lord Delaware {de-la-ware) ; whence the narao 
of the State. 

t The Huguenots made a settlement at Port Royal entrance, Carolina, in 1562, and built a fort 
which they called Caroline, in honor of Charles IX. (Carolus, in Latin) of France. (See p. 33.) 



ii4 The United States Reader. [its 3. 

colony made rapid increase in numbers; but, owing to the poverty and idle 
habits of the settlers, as also to the impolitic regulations of the trustees, tlie 
bright anticipations of plenty and comfort which had been entertained were not, 
for a time, realized. 

War with the Spaniards. — Tn consequence of the claim to territory 
set up by Spain, hostilities took place between the English settlers and their 
Spanish neighbors. Owing, however, to the bravery and skill of Oglethorpe, 
the result was favorable to the English. The trustees governed till 1752, when, 
wearied with their troublesome charge, they surrendered their charter to the 
crown, and Georgia became a royal province. 



SECTION III. 
The French and Indian "War. 

Causes of the War. — Although the boundaries between the British and 
French possessions in America had been, for more than a quarter of a century, 
a subject of dispute, the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, made in 1748, left them still 
undefined. 

The English, basing their title upon the discoveries made by the Cahots, laid 
claim to all the territory from Newfoundland to Florida, extending from the At- 
lantic to the Pacific. The French claimed all the interior portion adjacent to 
the rivers St. Lawrence and Mississippi and their tributaries, upon the ground 
that they had explored and occupied it ; and, the better to secure this claim, 
they erected forts at various places through the region. 

In consequence of these conflicting claims, a war broke out between England 
and her colonies, assisted to some extent by the Indians, on the one side, 
and France and her colonics, largely aided by the Indians, on the other. 
This is known as " The French and Indian War." It was thus a contest for 
territory and dominion in America. 

Washington 9 8 Mission, — The French having seized three British tra- 
ders, and also built forts on the land of the Ohio Company, an association 
formed under a royal grant, to trade with the Indians, Governor Dinwiddie, 
of the Virginia Colony, selected George Washington, then a young man of 
about twenty-two, to carry a letter to the French Commandant, remonstrating'' 
against these aggressive* acts. This was the first public service of importance 
performed by Washington. 

He set out on his mission in October,l753, from Williamsburg, then the capital 
of Virginia. His journey of four hundred miles, more than half of it through a 



A\NiD) THE 





[A 


4&l -J 




PLATTsaumcj 


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J-BURLIN6T0W> 




1753.] Colonial History. n5 

wilderness inhabited by hostile Indians, was perilous and difficult ; but he com- ■ 
pleted it in safety, returning after an absence of eleven weeks, during which he 
had encountered the severest hardships amid snow, icy floods, and savage ene- 
mies. The answer of St. Pierre (pe-are 1 ), the French commandant, was not, 
however, satisfactory to the governor. He stated that he was acting under the 
orders of Duquesne {du-kane'), governor of Canada, and refused to quit the 
territory. The following incidents will give some idea of the kind of perils en- 
countered by Washington during this journey. 



Incidents of Washington's Journey. — Lossing. 

1. The horses were so emaciated and jaded, that it was 
doubtful whether they could ever cross the mountains. The 
provisions and other luggage were to he transported on their 
backs ; and, to lighten their burden as much as possible, Wash- 
ington, Gist, and the interpreters determined to proceed on foot, 
confiding them to the direction of the servants. Washington 
put on an Indian walking-dress, and continued with them three 
days, when, finding that there was no probability of their get- 
ting home in any reasonable time, that the beasts became less 
able to travel every day, that the cold increased very fast, and 
that the roads were becoming much worse by a deep snow, con- 
tinually freezing, he determined to proceed in advance, the near- 
est way, through the woods. 

2. Leaving the rest of the party, with the luggage, in charge 
of Van Braum, therefore, with money and directions to provide 
necessaries from place to place, and orders to go on as rapidly 
as he could, he tied a heavy watch-coat close about him, 
and, with gun in hand, and a knapsack containing provis- 
ions and his papers on his shoulders, left the cavalcade v , ac- 
companied only by Mr. Grist, who was equipped in the same 
manner. 

£ Abandoning the beaten path, they directed their way 
through the woods so as to cross the Alleghany near Shanno- 
pinstown, two or three miles above the intersection of that 
river w T ith the Monongahela. Washington's own account of 
the hardships and dangers .which succeeded is modest and sub- 
dued, but extremely interesting. The narrative of Mr. Grist is 



n6 The United States Reader. [its*. 

in this part more ample, but perfectly consistent with that of 
his leader. 

4. "I was unwilling," writes the guide, "that lie should 
undertake such a march, who had never been used to walking 
before this time; but, as he insisted on it, we set out with our 
packs, like Indians, and travelled eighteen miles. That night 
we lodged at an Indian cabin, and the major was much fatigued. 
It was very cold: all the small streams were frozen, so that we 
could hardly get water to drink." At two o'clock the next 
morning, they were again on foot, and pressed forward until 
they struck the southeast branch of Beaver Creek, at a place 
called Murderingtown, the scene, probably, of some Indian 
massacre, 

5. k * Here," proceeds Mr. Gist, " we met with an Indian, 
whom I thought I had seen at Joncaire's, at Venango, when 
on our journey up to the French fort. This fellow called me 
by my Indian name, and pretended to be glad to see me. He 
asked us several questions, as, how came we to travel on foot, 
when we left Venango, where we parted from our horses, and 
when they would be there. Major Washington insisted upon 
travelling on the nearest way to the forks of the • Alleghany. 
We asked the Indian if he could go with us, and show us the 
nearest way. He seemed very glad, and ready to do so ; upon 
which we set out, and he took the major's pack. 

6. "We travelled quite briskly for eight or ten miles, when 
the major's feet grew very sore, and he very weary, and the 
Indian steered too much northeastwardly. The major desired 
to encamp, upon which the Indian asked to carry his gun ; but 
he refused that, and then the Indian grew churlish, and pressed 
us to keep on, telling us there were Ottawa Indians in these 
woods, and that they would scalp us if we lay out; but to go 
to his cabin and we should be safe. 

7. " I thought very ilL of the fellow, but did not care to let 
the major know I mistrusted him. But he soon mistrusted 
him as much as I. The Indian said he could hear a gun from 
his cabin, and steered us more northwardly. We grew uneasy, 
and then he said two Avhoops might be heard from his cabin. 



1754.] Colon ial History, 1 1 7 

We went two miles farther. Then the major said he would 
stay at the next water, and we desired the Indian to stop at 
the next water ; but before we came to w r ater we came to a clear 
meadow. 

8. " It was very light, and snow was on the ground. The 
Indian made a stop, and turned about. The major saw him 
point his gun toward us, and he fired. Said the major, 'Are 
you shot ? ' ' No/ said I ; upon which the Indian ran forward 
to a big standing white oak, and began loading his gun, but we 
were soon with him. I would have killed him, but the major 
would not suffer me. We let him charge his gun. We found 
he put in a ball; and then we took care of him. Either the 
major or I always stood by the guns. We made him make a fire 
for us by a little run, as if we intended to sleep there. 

9. "I said to the major, 'As you will not have him killed, 
we must get him away, and then we must travel all night;' 
upon which I said to the Indian, 'I suppose you were lost, and 
fired your gun/ He said he knew the way to his cabin, and it 
was but a little way. e Well/ said I, ' do yon go home; and as 
we are much tired, w T e will follow your track in the morning/ 
He was glad to get away. I followed him, and listened until 
he was fairly out of the way, and then we went about half a 
mile, when we made a fire, set our compass, and fixed our 
course and travelled all night. In the morning we were on the 
head of Piney Creek." There is little reason to doubt that it 
was the intention of the savage to kill one or both of them. — 
Life of Washington. 

Events of 1754. — At the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela 
rivers, the Ohio Company commenced the construction of a fort ; and a body 
of troops, of which Washington became the commander, was sent to protect 
the works. Before, however, he had time to reach the place, a party of French 
and Indians suddenly appeared and took possession. The works were then 
completed, and called Eort Duquesne. 

Eeceiving intelligence of the disaster, and that a strong force was marching 
to intercept him, Washington fell back, and took a position at a place called 
the Great Meadows. Here word came to him that a small detachment of the 
French had advanced to within a few miles of his position, where they were 
skulking, evidently with hostile intent. With the determination of forestalling 



1 1 8 The United States Reader. [175 5, 

their design, he sallied forth, came upon them by surprise, and, in the contest 
that followed, 28th of May, 1754, killed or captured all but one. 

In little more than a mouth after, a force of fifteen hundred French and 
Indians, commanded by De Villiers (vil-le-ure ) , made an attack upon a small 
fort which Washington had constructed and named Fort Necessity. A brave 
defense of ten hours was made, but, on the morning of the 4th of July, Wash- 
ington was compelled to surrender, though upon condition that he and the 
garrison should be permitted to return to Virginia. 

Events of 1755. — Four expeditions, on the part of the English, were 
planned for 1755; namely, against Nova Scotia, Crown Point, Fort Niagara, 
and Fort Duquesne. The one against Nova Scotia was commanded by Col. 
Monckton [monk' tun). Two forts there were captured in June; a beautiful 
and fertile country was reduced to a solitude; and the inhabitants by thousands 
were driven on board the English ships, and scattered among the colonists of 
New England and other places. 

Braddock'8 Expedition, — Gen. Brad'dock, who had been sent to 
America as commander-in-chief of the royal forces, headed the expedition 
against Fort 1 taqnesne. Disregarding the suggestions of Washington, who was 
acting as his aid-de-camp, he fell into an ambush of French and Indians, July 
the ( .»th, when within a few miles of the fort, and was defeated with great loss, 
he himself being mortally wounded. 

Defeat of Braddock. — Sparks, 

1. Ox the Sth of July, the General arrived with his division, 
all in excellent health and spirits, at the junction of the You- 
ghiogany and Monougahela rivers. At this place Colonel 
Washington joined the advanced division, being but partially 
recovered from a severe attack of fever, which had been the 
cause of his remaining behind. The officers and soldiers were 
now in the highest spirits, and firm in the conviction that 
they should, within a few hours, victoriously enter the walls of 
Duquesne. 

2. The steep and rugged grounds on the north side of the 
Monongahela prevented the army from marching in that direc- 
tion ; and it was necessary, in approaching the fort, now about 
fifteen miles distant, to ford the river twice, and march a part of 
the way on the south side. Early on the morning of the 9th, 
all things were in readiness, and the whole train passed through 
the river, a little below the mouth of the Youghiogany (j/oh-Iw- 
cja'ne), and proceeded in perfect order along the southern margin 



1755.] Colonial History. 119 

of the Monongahela. Washington was often heard to say, during 
his life-time, that the most beautiful spectacle he had ever beheld 
was the display of the British troops on this eventful morning. 
Every man was neatly dressed in full uniform, the soldiers 
were arranged in columns and marched in exact order, the sun 
gleamed from their burnished arms, the river flowed tranquilly 
on their right, and the deep forest overshadowed them with 
solemn grandeur on their left. Officers and men were equally 
inspirited with cheering hopes and confident anticipations. 

3. In this manner they marched forward till about noon, 
when they arrived at the second crossing-place, ten miles from 
Fort Duquesne. They halted but a little time, and then began 
to ford the river and regain its northern bank. As soon as 
they had crossed, they came upon a level plain, elevated but a 
few feet above the surface of the river, and extending north- 
ward nearly half a mile from its margin. Then commenced a 
gradual ascent, at an angle of about three degrees, which ter- 
minated in hills of a considerable height at no great distance 
beyond. The road from the fording-place to Fort Duquesne 
led across the plain and up this ascent, and thence proceeded 
through an uneven country, at that time covered with 
wood. 

4. By the order of march, a body of three hundred men, 
under Colonel Gage, made the advanced party, which was 
immediately followed by another of two hundred. Next came 
the General, with the columns of artillery, the main body 
of the army, and the baggage. At one o'clock the whole 
had crossed the river; and almost at this moment, a sharp 
firing was heard upon the advanced parties, who were now 
ascending the hill, and had got forward about a hundred yards 
from the termination of the plain. A heavy discharge of 
musketry was ponred in npon their front, which was the first 
intelligence they had of the proximity v of an enemy; and this 
was suddenly followed by another on their right flank. They 
were filled with the greatest consternation, as no enemy was in 
sight, and the firing seemed to proceed from an invisible foe. 
They fired in their turn, however, but quite at random, and 

6 



120 The United States Reader, [1755. 

obviously without effect, as the enemy kept up a discharge in 
quick and continued succession. 

5. The General advanced speedily to the relief of these de- 
tachments; but, before he could reach the spot which they 
occupied, they gave way and fell back upon the artillery v and 
the other columns of the army, causing extreme confusion, and 
striking the whole mass with such a panic, that no order could 
afterwards be restored. The General and the officers behaved 
with the utmost courage, and used every effort to rally the 
men, and bring them to order, but all in vain. In this state 
they continued nearly three hours, huddling together in con- 
fused bodies, firing irregularly, shooting down their own 
officers and men, and doing no perceptible harm to the enemy. 
The Virginian provincials were the only troops who seemed to 
retain their senses, and they behaved with a bravery and 
resolution worthy of a better fate. 

6. They adopted the Indian mode, and fought, each man for 
himself, behind a tree. This was prohibited by the General, 
who endeavored to form his men into platoons and colnmns, 
as if they had been manoeuvring 7 on the plains of Flanders. 
Meantime, the French and Indians, concealed in the ravines 
and behind trees, kept up a deadly and nnceasing discharge of 
musketry, singling out their objects, taking deliberate aim, and 
producing a carnage almost unparalleled in the annals of 
modern warfare. More than half of the whole army, which 
had crossed the river in so proud an array only three hours 
before, were killed or wounded, the General himself had 
received a mortal wound, and many of his best officers had 
fallen by his side 

7. When the battle was over, and the remnant of Brad- 
dock's army had gained, in their flight, the opposite bank of 
the river, Colonel Washington was dispatched by the General 
to meet Colonel Dunbar, and order forward wagons for the 
wounded with all possible speed. But it was not till the -11th, 
after they had reached Gist's plantation, with great difficulty 
and much suffering from hunger, that any arrived. The 
General was at first brought off in a tumbril v ; he was next put 



17 55. j Colonial History. 121 

on horseback, but, being unable to ride, was obliged to be car- 
ried by the soldiers. They all reached Dunbar's camp, to 
which the panic/ had already extended, and a day was passed 
there in the greatest confusion. The artillery was destroyed, 
and the public stores and heavy baggage were burnt, by whose 
order was never known. 

8. They moved forward on the 13th, and that night 
General Braddock died, and was buried in the road, for the 
purpose of concealing his body from the Indians. The spot is 
still pointed out, within a lew yards of the present National 
Road, and about a mile west of the site of Fort Necessity at 
the Great Meadows. Captain Stewart, of the Virginia forces, 
had taken particular charge of him from the time he was 
wounded till his death. On the 17th the sick and wounded 
arrived at Fort Cumberland, and were soon joined by Colonel 
Dunbar, with the remaining fragments of the army. The 
French sent out a party as far as Dunbar's camp, and destroyed 
everything that was left. Colonel Washington, being in very 
feeble health, proceeded in a few days to Mount Vernon. — Life 
of Washington, 

Other Expeditions of 1755, — The expedition against Niagara was 
also a failure. Gov. Shir'ley, who commanded jt, advanced as far as Oswego ; 
but the defeat of Braddock paralyzed 7 his efforts, his Indian allies deserted, and 
finally the enterprise was abandoned. Leaving garrisons for two new forts 
which had been commenced, Shirley returned to Albany. 

To Gen. Johnson had been confided the expedition against Crown Point. 
He was preceded by Gen. Ly'man, who, at the " carrying place" between the 
Hudson and Lake George, constructed Fort Edward. Johnson advanced as far 
as the head of the lake, and, while encamped there, his Indian scouts brought 
word that two thousand French and Indians were marching to attack Fort Ed- 
ward. Dieskau \de-es-ko'), commanding this force, had made his way from 
Montreal. 

Losing no time, Johnson sent Col. Williams with twelve hundred men, two 
hundred of whom were Indians, to intercept the enemy. But Dieskau changed 
his plan. As he approached the fort, Sept. 8th, his Indian allies, fearful of its 
cannon, refused to proceed. Then, taking another direction, to surprise the 
army at the lake, he drew the forces of Williams into an ambush, and routed 
them with fearful slaughter, pursuing the fugitives to Johnson's camp. 

From behind a breastwork of trees, Johnson fired upon his assailants ; but 



122 The United States Reader. in 58, 

he receiving- a wound early in the action, the defense was continued by Lyman, 
and finally turned into an attack. The French and their allies Mere defeated; 
and Dieskau, incurably wounded, was made a prisoner. Johnson, after erecting 
Fort William Henry, retired to Albany. 

Events of 175<i. — The Marquis dc Montcalm (mont-kam') f Dicskau's 
successor, in August, 1756, made an attack upon Oswego, and compelled the 
English, numbering fourteen hundred men, to surrender. A large amount of 
stores and money also fell into the hands of the victor. Incited by French 
emissaries 7 , the Indians of the Ohio committed great desolation ; but Col. 
Armstrong, after a long and perilous march, reached Kittanning (kit-tan' ning), 
their chief town, and destroyed it by fire. 

Events of 17 '57* — In the beginning of August, 1757, Montcalm, with 
nine thousand men, two thousand of whom were Indians, laid siege to Fort 
William Henry. For six days its commander, Col. Monro, kept up a vigorous 
defense, trusting to receive aid from Gen. Webb, who, at the time, was in com- 
mand of a large force at Fort Edward, only fifteen miles off. At length, learn- 
ing that no assistance would be sent, and being without ammunition 7 , he was 
compelled to surrender on the 9th, capitulating that his men should have a safe 
escort to Webb's quarters. Notwithstanding the stipulation, the English had 
hardly left the fort before the Indian allies of Montcalm, incited by the hope of 
plunder, attacked them, and massacred a large number. The fort was soon 
afterward demolished. 

Events Of 17 US. — Upon the death of Braddock, which occurred four 
days after his defeat in 1755, the general command devolved upon Shirley. 
Shirley was soon succeeded by Lord Lou Vlon, and he, in turn, by Gen. Ab'er- 
crom bie. With the celebrated William Pitt, afterward Lord Chatham, at the 
head of the British government, preparations to carry on the war were made 
with great vigor. Three expeditions were planned for 1758; one, under Gen. 
Amherst (am' erst), against Louisburg ; another, under Abercrombie, against 
Fort Ticonderoga; and a third, under Gen. Forbes, against Fort Duqucsnc. 

On the 26th of July, Louisburg surrendered, after a desperate resistance of 
more than forty days, during which two officers, Wolfe and Montgomery, 
greatly distinguished themselves by their bravery. St. John's Island, now 
Prince Edward's, as well as the island of Cape Breton (brit'un), fell into the 
hands of the British. 

Abercrombie, making his way northward, sailed down Lake George, and, 
debarking near its outlet, commenced a march through the forests toward Ticon- 
deroga, then commanded by Montcalm. In a conflict which took place, July 
6th, between advanced bodies of the contending parties, Lord Howe, an officer 
greatly beloved, was slain. Two days after, an unsuccessful assault upon the 
fort was made in full force, the assailants losing nearly two thousand men in 
killed and wounded. 

During this year, a detachment of Abercrombie's army crossed Lake Ontario 
and captured Fort Frontenac, on the northeast shore, and with it several vessels 



1759. - . Colonial History. 123 

and a vast amount of militaiy stores. Fort Duquesne was also captured, and 
its name changed to Fort Pitt, in honor of the illustrious orator and statesman, 
William Pitt. 

Events of 17o9. — The great object of the campaign of 1759 was the 
reduction of Canada. Gen. Wolfe was to lay siege to Quebec ; Amherst, who 
had succeeded Abercrombie as commander-in-chief, was to reduce Ticondepga 
and Crown Point, and then co-operate with Wolfe ; and Gen. Prideaux (prid'o) 
was to capture Niagara and Montreal, and then join Amherst. 

Prideaux reached Niagara in July, but, during the siege of the place, was 
killed. Johnson, having succeeded to the command, defeated a relief force of 
French and Indians, and compelled the besieged to surrender. Instead, how- 
ever, of proceeding to Montreal, he made his way to Albany. Amherst reached 
the vicinity of Ticonderoga, when the French abandoned both it and Crown 
Point without striking a blow. He went into winter-quarters at the latter place, 
and thus failed to co-operate with Wolfe. 

With eight thousand men Wolfe ascended the St. Lawrence, and landed, his 
army upon the isle of Orleans. On the 31st of July, he made a daring though 
unsuccessful attempt upon the French intrenchments at Montmorenci, near 
Quebec. Not discouraged by the disaster, the English effected a landing at 
night about two miles above the city, and climbing the steep banks of the river, 
by daybreak, on the following morning, September 13th, stood on the Plains 
of Abraham in battle array. 

Taking of Quebec, and Death of Wolfe. — ParJcman. 

1. The eventful night of tlie twelfth [September, 1759] was 
clear and calm, with no light but that of the stars. Within 
two hours before daybreak, thirty boats, crowded with sixteen 
hundred soldiers, cast off from the vessels, and floated down- 
ward, in perfect order, with the current of the ebb tide. To 
the boundless joy of the army, Wolfe's malady had abated, and 
he was able to command in person. His ruined health, the 
gloomy prospects of the siege, and the disaster at Montmorenci, 
had oppressed him with the deepest melancholy, but never im- 
paired for a moment the promptness of his decisions, or the 
impetuous energy of his actions. 

2. He sat in the stern of one of the boats, pale and weak, 
but borne up to a calm height of resolution. Every order had 
been given, every arrangement made, and it only remained to 
face the issue. The ebbing tide sufficed to bear the boats 
along, and nothing broke the silence of the night but the 



124 The United States Reader. [1759. 

gurgling of the river, and the low voice of Wolfe as he repeated 
to the officers about him the stanzas of Gray's " Elegy in a 
Country Churchyard,*' which had recently appeared, and which 
he had just received from England. Perhaps, as he uttered 
tjiose strangely appropriate words, 

"The paths of glory lead but to the grave," 

the shadows of his own approaching fate stole with mournful 
prophecy across his mind. " Gentlemen," he said, as he closed 
his recital, "I would rather have written those lines than take 
Quebec to-morrow;' 

3. They reached the landing-place in safety — an indentation' 
in the shore about a league from the city, and now bearing the 
name of Wolfe's Cove. Here a narrow path led up the face of 
the heights, and a French guard was posted at the top to 
defend the pass. By the force of the currents, the foremost 
boats, including that which carried Wolfe himself, were borne 
a little below the spot. The General was one of the first on 
shore. lie looked upward at the rugged heights that towered 
above him in the gloom. "You can try it," he coolly observed 
to an officer standing near him, "but I don't think you'll get 
up." 

4. At the point where the Highlanders landed, one of their 
captains, Donald Macdonald, was climbing in advance of his 
men, when he was challenged by a sentinel. He replied in 
French, by declaring that he had been sent to relieve the 
guard, and ordering the soldier to withdraw. Before the latter 
was undeceived, a crowd of Highlanders were close at hand, 
while the steps below were thronged by eager climbers, dragging 
themselves up by trees, roots, and bushes. The guard turned 
out, and made a brief but brave resistance. In a moment they 
were cut to pieces, dispersed, or made prisoners; while men 
after men came swarming up the height, and quickly formed 
upon the plains above. Meanwhile, the vessels had dropped, 
downward with the current, and anchored opposite the land- 
ing-place. The remaining troops were disembarked, and with 
the dawn of day the whole were brought in safety to the shore. 



1692.] Colonial History. 125 

5. The sun rose, and from the ramparts of Quebec the 
astonished people saw the Plains of Abraham glittering with 
arms, and the dark red lines of the English forming in array 
of battle. Breathless messengers had borne the eyil tidings to 
Montcalm, and far and near his wide-extended camp resounded 
with the rolling of alarm-drums and the din of startled prepara- 
tion. 

6. It was nine o'clock, and the adverse armies stood motion- 
less, each gazing on the other. The clouds hung low, and, at 
intervals, warm, light showers descended, besprinkling both 
alike. The coppice* and cornfields in front of the British 
troops were filled with French sharpshooters, who kept up a 
distant, spattering fire. Here and there a soldier fell in the 
ranks, and the gap was filled in silence. 

7. At a little before ten, the British could see that Montcalm 
was preparing to advance, and in a few moments all his troops 
appeared in rapid motion. They came on in three divisions, 
shouting after the manner of their nation, and firing heavily 
as soon as they came within range. In the British ranks, not 
a trigger was pulled, not a soldier stirred; and their ominous 
composure seemed to damp the spirits of the assailants. It 
was not till the French were within forty yards that the fatal 
word was given. At once, from end to end of the British line, 
the muskets rose to the level, as if with the sway of some great 
machine, and the whole blazed forth at once in one crashing 
explosion. Like a ship at full career arrested with sudden 
ruin on a sunken rock, the columns of Montcalm staggered, 
shivered, and broke before that wasting storm of lead. 

8. The smoke, rolling along the field, for a. moment shut out 
the view; but when the white wreaths were scattered in the 
wind, a wretched spectacle was disclosed — men and officers 
tumbled in heaps, columns resolved into a mob, order and 
obedience gone; and when the British muskets were levelled 
for a second volley, the masses were seen to cower and shrink 
with uncontrollable panic. 

9. For a few minutes, the French regulars stood their ground, 
returning a sharp and not ineffectual fire. But now, echoing 



126 The United States Reader. [1759. 

cheer on cheer, redoubling volley on volley, trampling the dy- 
ing and the dead, and driving the fugitives in crowds, the 
British troops advanced, and swept the field before them. The 
ardor of the men burst all restraint. They broke into a run, 
and, with unsparing slaughter, chased the flying multitude to 
the very gates of Quebec. Foremost of all, the light-footed 
Highlanders dashed along in furious pursuit, hewing down the 
Frenchmen with their broadswords, and slaying many in the 
very ditch of the fortifications. Never was victory more quick 
or more decisive. 

10. In the short action and pursuit, the Frenchmen lost fifteen 
hundred men, killed, wounded, and taken. Of the remainder, 
some escaped within the city, and others fled across the St. 
Charles, to rejoin their comrades who had been left to guard the 
camp. The pursuers were recalled by sound of trumpet ; the 
broken ranks were formed afresh, and the English troops with- 
drawn beyond reach of the cannon of Quebec. Bougainville, 
with his detachment, arrived from the upper country, and, hov- 
ering about their rear, threatened an attack ; but when he saw 
what greeting was prepared for him, he abandoned his purpose, 
and withdrew. Townshend and Murray, the only general officers 
who remained unhurt, passed to the head of every regiment in 
turn, and thanked the soldiers for the bravery they had shown ; 
yet the triumph of the victors was mingled with sadness, as the 
tidings went from rank to rank that Wolfe had fallen. 

11. In the heat of the action, as he advanced at the head of 
the grenadiers of Louisburg, a bullet shattered his wrist; but 
he wrapped his handkerchief about the wound, and showed no 
sign of pain. A moment more, and a ball pierced his side. 
Still he pressed forward, waving his s^word and cheering his 
soldiers to the attack, when a third shot lodged deep within his 
breast. He paused, reeled, and staggering to one side, fell to 
the earth. Brown, a lieutenant of the grenadiers, Henderson, 
a volunteer, an officer of artillery, and a private soldier, raised 
him together in their arms, and bearing him to the rear, laid 
him softly on the grass. 

12. They asked if he would have a surgeon ; but he shook his 



1765.] Colonial History. 127 

head, and answered, that all was over with him. His eves closed 
with the torpor of approaching death, and those around sus- 
tained his fainting form. Yet they could not withhold their 
gaze from the wild turmoil before them, and the charging ranks 
of their companions, rushing through the fire and smoke. " See 
how they run," one of the officers exclaimed, as the French fled 
in confusion before the levelled bayonets. "Who runs?" de- 
manded Wolfe, opening his eyes like a man aroused from sleep. 
"The enemy, sir," was the reply; "they give way everywhere." 
"Then," said the dying general, "tell Colonel Burton to march 
Webb's regiment down to Charles River, to cut off their retreat 
from the bridge. Xow, God be praised, I die in peace," he 
murmured; and turning on his side, he calmly breathed his 
last.. Almost at the same moment fell his great adversary, 
Montcalm, as he strove, with useless bravery, to rally his shat- 
tered ranks.— Conspiracy of Pontine* 

Events of 1760, and Close of the War.—De Levi, Montcalm's 
successor, made extensive preparations for the recovery of Quebec. He 
marched to Sillery, three miles above the city, and there, on the 28th of April, 
1760, was fought one of the most desperate battles of the war. At length the 
English, after losing a thousand men, fell back; and the opportune 7 arrival of a 
British fleet, some days after, compelled the French to retreat. Amherst pro- 
ceeded against and invested Montreal. The governor, unable to resist, signed 
a capitulation, by which not only that city but the whole of Canada was surren- 
dered to the English. 

The war between France and England continued until 1763, when a treity 
of peace was signed at Paris, by which France ceded to Great Britain all her 
American possessions east of the Mississippi, and north of the Iberville (i'ber-vil) 
River, in Louisiana. At the same time, Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain. 

State of the Colonies in 1765. — 'Grahams. 

1. The war which had just so triumphantly closed, exercised 
during its continuance a mischievous influence on the popula- 
tion and prosperity of the American provinces, which, however, 
the vigor and virtue of their excellent constitutions, aided by 
the happy result of the contest, enabled them very speedily to 
surmount. In the commencement of the war, the successes of 
the French and the ferocious ravages of the Indians tended to 
6* 



128 The United States Reader. [1705. 

repress the flow of emigration from Europe to America ; and, 
during the whole of its continuance, the sacrifice of life and re- 
sources, yielded to military exigence, and inflicted by hostile rage, 
diminished the means and the activity of domestic increase. 

2. But the progressive growth of America, though impeded? 
was by no means arrested during this war. In every instance 
in which materials for judgment can be obtained, we find the 
various States more wealthy and populous at the period of the 
ti\atv of Paris, than at the preceding date of the treaty of Aix- 
la-Chapelle. From Virginia, in the year 1758, there were ex- 
ported seventy thousand hogsheads of tobacco, — "the largest 
quantity of this produce," says Jefferson, "we exported from 
the colony in a single year." 

3. The population of this province is said to have amounted, 
in 1763, to one hundred and seventy thousand persons, of whom 
one hundred thousand were slaves. Burnaby, an English gentle- 
man and scholar, who visited the North American colonies in 
1 759 and 1760, and afterward published an account of his trav- 
els, remarks that the progress of arts and sciences had been 
very Blight and .scanty in Virginia, where the college of William 
and Mary was yet the only established seminary v of education, 
and by no means fulfilled the designs of its founders. This 
writer expressed his conviction that no considerable town would 
arise in Virginia for some centuries 

4. Massachusetts contained, in the year 1763, a population 
of at least two hundred and forty-one thousand persons, of 
whom five thousand two hundred were slaves; Connecticut, 
one hundred and forty-five thousand five hundred, of whom 
four thousand five hundred were slaves; and Ehode Island, 
upwards of forty thousand, of whom four thousand six hun- 
dred were slaves. The population of New Hampshire at this 
period has not been distinctly noted; but in the year 1767 it 
is said to have amounted to fifty-two thousand seven hundred 
persons. Of the population of Maine no notice has been trans- 
mitted. These numbers are certainly too low; and more 
credit is due to the computation of Dr. Stiles, who assigns to 
the whole of New England, at this period, a population of 
upwards of five hundred thousand souls. 



1765.] Colonial History. 129 

5. The States- of New England were more eager to increase 
their population than to publish the details of its progressive 
growth. In the year 1763, the British ministers, who were 
intent upon schemes of rendering the resources of America 
directly tributary to the revenue of the parent state, instructed 
the governor of Massachusetts to obtain for them an accurate 
census of the number of inhabitants of this province. In com- 
pliance with their wish, the governor proposed to the Assembly 
to enact a law requiring every parish and district to ascertain 
and report the amount of its population. 

6. But this measure was opposed with strong manifestations 
both of patriotic jealousy and of Puritan prejudice. Many 
persons entertained a suspicion (which the frame of their 
temper would have led them to infer from slighter grounds) 
that some sinister 7 design of British tyranny and encroachment 
was couched under the proceeding; and not a few opposed it 
with religious scruples, and assimilated it to King David's 
unhallowed and calamitous policy in numbering -the people of 
Israel. After being postponed from session to session, the 
proposed law was reluctantly passed by a small majority of the 
Assembly ; and executed, most probably, with little diligence 
or exactness 

7. The conquest of the French dominions, and the reduction 
of the hostile Indians, which communicated a new energy to the 
principle of increase in all the British colonies, was beneficial 
in an especial degree to New England. In New Hampshire, 
more particularly, this advantage was speedily and strikingly 
apparent. For many years the frontiers of this province had 
been, with little intermission, a scene of suffering and danger, 
from the incursions 7 of the Indian allies of France. At the 
conclusion of the war, many of the inhabitants of New Hamp- 
shire were enabled to return from savage captivity to their 
homes, and friends who had long been separated were restored 
to each other's society. 

8. The general joy was heightened by the consideration that 
Canada would no longer be a source of terror and distress. 
Relieved from this scourge, New Hampshire began to expand 



130 The Ufiitcd States Reader. [i765. 

with happy vigor in the extension of settlements and the mul- 
tiplication of its people. From the peace of Paris may be 
dated the flourishing state of tins province, which till then was 
circumscribed'' and stinted in its growth by the continual 
pressure of danger from a savage enemy. But now that the 
land had rest, its frontiers' were rapidly peopled and extended, 
both by internal increase, and by copious emigration from the 
other States of Xew England; and the territory, in particu- 
lar, subsequently distinguished by the name of Vermont, and 
whose original cultivation we have already remarked, began to 
i i 1 1 apace with inhabitants. 

9. Proportioned to its replenish men t v , unfortunately, was 
the warmth of the controversy in which New Hampshire and 
New York urged their rival pretensions to the government of 
this territory. The colonists of Vermont, who would probably 
have submitted with little opposition to the jurisdiction of 
New York, were provoked to the most violent and determined 
resistance of this pretension by the claims for heavy fines and 
quitrents which were blended with it. Encouraged by two 
leaders of ardent and daring spirit, Ethan Allen and Seth War- 
ner, both natives of Connecticut, a numerous body of the colo- 
nics, with arms in their hands, rejected the mandates, and defied 
the menaces of the government of New York; and though the 
Assembly of this province enacted a decree of outlawry against 
Allen and Warner, its power was unavailing 1 " to carry the 
sentence into effect, or to overcome the opposition which these 
adventurers promoted. The controversy was conducted with 
a virulence unfriendly to civilization and humanity; but it 
proved eventually serviceable in a high degree to the political 
interests, of America by educating a prompt and vigorous 
spirit of self-defense among the growing population of Ver- 
mont 

10. Shortly after the conquest of Canada, there was dis- 
covered, at the mouth of the river St. Lawrence, a valuable 
whale-fishery, which had been unknown to the French. Its 
resources were made tributary to the people of New England 
with such prompt and progressive vigor of appropriation, that in 



ir65.] Colonial History. 131 

the year 1761 ten New England ships, and in 1763 no fewer 
than eighty, were profitably employed in this adventure. . . 

11. Xo fewer than five printing-presses were at this time 
maintained in consiant employment at Boston. Within the 
limits of the old Plymouth territory, which was now annexed 
to this province, there still remained upward of nine hundred 
Indians. In the island of Nantucket, about three hundred 
and fifty of this race were still to be found. In Duke's County 
in the same province, there remained about three hundred In- 
dians ; and at Xatick only thirty-seven of the Indian inhabit- 
ants survived. Nearly one thousand Indians continued to 
occupy lands within the territory of Connecticut. In the 
months of September and October, 1760, more than one hun- 
dred bears were killed in one district of the County of 
Hampshire, in Massachusetts. The manufacture of sugar and 
molasses from the juice of the maple-tree was first introduced 
into Xew England in the year 1765. 

12. Of the population and condition of Maryland at the 
present period, no memorial has been preserved. The proprie- 
tary authority still subsisted in the family of Lord Baltimore; 
and though it was not exercised with that sordid v and illiberal 
policy which provoked so much dislike against the kindred in- 
stitution in Pennsylvania, it seems to have been regarded with 
little respect or affection 

13. North Carolina, in the year 1763, is reported to have 
contained about ninety-five thousand white inhabitants. The 
contentment and prosperity of the people of this province had 
suffered a much greater abatement from the extortion T and in- 
justice practised by Governor Dobbs and other administrators 
of British authority, than from their share, comparatively a 
small one, of the calamities of the late Indian wars. Amidst a 
great deal of genuine American virtue and happiness, North 
Carolina contained a more numerous body of indigent and 
discontented freemen than existed in any or perhaps all of the 
other British settlements. Education was generally neglected ; 
the laws and the executive officers enjoyed little influence or 
respect ; and it was difficult among this people to recover pay- 
ments of debts, or to obtain satisfaction for injuries. 



132 The United States Reader. [17G5. 

14. South Carolina, which had continued to advance in 
growth, notwithstanding the pressure of the war, reaped an 
ample and immediate share of the advantages resulting from 
the peace of Paris. In consequence of an act of its Assembly, 
which appropriated a large fund to the payment of bounties to 
industrious laborers from Great Britain and Ireland, and to 
all foreign Protestants resorting to the province within three 
years and forming settlements in its interior districts, vast 
numbers of emigrants from Germany, England, Scotland, 
and especially Ireland, eagerly embraced the prospect and be- 
came citizens of the Xew AVorld in South Carolina. . . In 
17G5, the province contained one hundred and thirty thousand 
inhabitants, of whom ninety thousand were slaves. 

15. In none of the British colonies were the advantages 
attendant on the treaty of Paris more speedily or strikingly 
manifested than in Georgia. This young provincial community, 
destitute of commercial credit, and peculiarly exposed to hostile 
molestation, had hitherto experienced but a feeble and languid 
progress : but from the present period it advanced, with sudden 
and .surprising rapidity, in wealth and population. The British 
merchants, considering the colony securely established and 
likely to attain a flourishing estate, were no longer backward in 
extending credit to its planters, and freely supplied them with 
negroes, and with the produce of the manufactures of Britain. 

16. In 1703, the exports of Georgia consisted of 7,500 barrels 
of rice, 9,033 pounds of indigo, and 1,250 bushels of Indian 
corn, which, together with silk,* deer and beaver skins, naval 
stores, provisions, and timber, amounted in value to £27,021 
sterling ; while in 1773, the province exported staple commodi- 
ties to the value of £121,677 sterling. The valuable plant, sago, 
whose nutritious 7 and antiscorbutic 7 properties had been re- 
marked by Bowen, a traveller in China, was, by the same en- 
terprising observer, discovered in Georgia, whence he imported 
it into Britain, and introduced its use about the year 1766. — 
Colonial History of the United States. 

* In 1759, upward of 10,000 lbs. weight of raw silk was stored in Savannah for exportation. 



SECTION IV. 
The Ameeicaist Revolution. 

Causes. — The expenses which Great Britain had incurred in the French 
and Indian War greatly increased her national debt; and the British ministry, 
asserting- that this had been done in defending- their American possessions, pro- 
posed to lessen the burden by taxing the colonies. In pursuance of this propo- 
sition, the Stamp Act was passed in 1765 ; the effect of which was to excite a 
great storm of indignation throughout the colonies, the people of which opposed 
all measures of taxation, on the ground that they had no representatives in the 
British Parliament. 

The Stamp Act. — Grimshaiv. 

1. At the time of that disastrous warfare, in which Wash- 
ington rose upon the ruins of the incautious Braddock, resolu- 
tions had passed the British Parliament for laying a stamp- 
duty in America ; but they were not followed immediately by 
any legislative act. The declaratory opinion of that body met 
with no opposition on either side of the Atlantic; because the 
" omnipotence of Parliament" was then a familiar phrase ; but, " 
afterward, when the measure was examined, it was better un- 
derstood, and constitutional objections were urged by many 
sagacious statesmen, both in England and America. 

2. But, notwithstanding the powerful reasons offered against 
this unjust and hazardous experiment, George Grenville, im- 
pelled by a partiality for along-cherished scheme, in the follow- 
ing year, 1765, again brought into the House of Commons this 
unpopular bill, and succeeded in its enactment. By this, the 
instruments of writing in daily use amongst a commercial peo- 
ple were to be null and void, unless executed on paper or 
parchment stamped with a specific duty. Law documents and 
leases, articles of apprenticeship and contracts, protests and 
bills of sale, newspapers and advertisements, almanacs and 
pamphlets, — all must contribute to the British treasury. 



134 The United States Reader. [1765. 

3. When the measure was examined, Charles Townshend 
delivered a speech in its favor, in concluding which, he said, 

" Will these Americans, children planted by our care, nourished 
by our indulgence, till they are grown up to a degree of strength 
and opulence, and protected by our arms; — will they grudge 
to contribute their mite to relieve us from the weight of that 
heavy burden under which we lie?" 

4. " They, planted by your care ! " replied Colonel Barre : 
"No; they were planted by your oppressions. They fled from 
tyranny to an uncultivated, inhospitable' country, where they 
exposed themselves to all the hardships to which human nature 
is Liable; and, amongst others, to the cruelty of a savage foe 
the most subtle, and, I will take it upon me to say, the mos* 
formidable, people on the nice of this earth. And yet, actuated 
by principles of true English liberty, they met all hardships 
with pleasure, compared with what they had suffered in their 
own country, from the hands of those that should have been 
their friends. 

5. ''They, nourished by your indulgence ! They grew up by 
your neglect. As soon as you began to extend your care, that 
c.i re was displayed in sending persons to rule them, in one de- 
p irtnient and another, who were, perhaps, the deputies' of dep- 
uties to some members of the house; sent to spy out their lib- 
erties, to misrepresent their actions, and to prey upon their 
substance; men whose behavior, on many occasions, has car -ed 
the blood of those sons of freedom to recoil within them : men 
promoted to the highest seats of justice — some, who, to my 
knowledge, were glad, by going to a foreign country, to escape 
their being brought to the bar of a court of justice in their own. 

6. " They, protected by your arms! They have nobly taken 
up arms in your defense, have exerted a valor amidst their con- 
stant laborious industry, for the defense of a country whose 
frontier was drenched in blood, while its interior yielded all its 
little savings to your emolument'. And, believe me, that the 
same spirit of freedom which actuated these people at first will 
accompany them still:— but, prudence forbids me to explain 
mvself further. 



1765.] American Revolution. 135 

7. " God knows, I do not, at' this time, speak from any mo- 
tives of party heat. I deliver the genuine sentiments of my 
heart. However superior to me, in general knowledge and ex- 
perience, the respectable body of this house may be, yet, I claim 
to know more of America than most of yon ; having seen that 
country, and been conversant with its people. They are, I be- 
lieve, as truly royal as any subjects the king has; but a people 
jealous of their liberties, and who will vindicate them, if ever 
they should be violated. But the subject is too delicate : I will 
say no more." 

8. The night after the bill passed, Dr. Franklin wrote to Mr. 
Charles Thomson, "The sun of liberty is set; you must light 
up the candles of industry and economy." — Mr. Thomson an- 
swered : " I was apprehensive that other lights would be the 
consequence, and I foresee the opposition that will be made." — 
History of England. 

Effect of its Passage, — The first burst of opposition appeared in the 
Legislature of Virginia, where Patrick Henry* distinguished himself by his bold 
eloquence. Afterward, a more formidable opposition was shown, when, upon 
the recommendation of the Massachusetts Assembly, a Colonial Congress, in 
which nine colonies were represented, was held in New York. Of this Con- 
gress, Timothy Buggies, of Massachusetts, was elected President ; and, after 
mature deliberation, a Declaration of Rights, a Petition to the King, and a 
Memorial to Parliament, were adopted. 

When the day came on which the Stamp Act was to go into effect, there 
were no officials courageous enough to carry it into execution ; and, besides, all 
the stamps had been concealed or destroyed. Business continued to be con- 
ducted without stamps, and the colonial merchants agreed to import no more 
goods while the obnoxious measure remained a law. A change in the British 
ministry occurring, the act was repealed in 1766. 

Other Measures of Taxation, — The next year the attempt to tax 
the colonies was renewed, by the passage of an act levying duties on glass, 
paper, tea, etc. This measure met with decided opposition from the colonists, 
particularly in Boston, to which General Gaget ordered two regiments, to over- 

* Patrick Henry was born in Virginia in 1736, and died there in 1799, the year of Washington's 
death. His early life was not promising, but after his admission to the bar (1760), he became in a, 
short time wonderfully successful as a pleader, and was soon regarded as the most gifted orator and 
political thinker in America. He was, in succession, a member of the Virginia House of Bursresses, 
delegate to the "First Continental Congress,-' colonel of a Virginia regiment, and governor of Vir- 
ginia during a large part of the Revolution, and again after its close. 

t Thomas Gage was the last royal governor of Massachusetts. He was an active officer during 
the French and Indian War and served with Washington during Braddock's campaign. 



136 The United States Reader. [1770. 

awe the inhabitants (1770). This greatly exasperated the people, and led to 
the affray called the "Boston Mas-acre," in which the soldiers tired upon the 
populace, killing three men, and wounding others (1770). 

The Boston Massacre. — Hawthorne. 

1. It was now the 3d of March, 1770. The sunset music of 
the British regiments was heard, as usual, throughout the town. 
The shrill fife and rattling drum awoke the echoes in King- 
street, while the last ray of sunshine was lingering on the cu- 
pola of the town-house. And now all the sentinels were posted. 
One of them marched up and down before the custom-house, 
treading a short path through the snow, and longing for the 
time when he would be dismissed to the warm fireside of the 
guard-room. 

2. In the course of the evening there were two or three 
slight commotion.-, which seemed to indicate that trouble was 
at hand. Small parties of young men stood at the corners of 
the streets, or walked along the narrow pavements. Squads of 
soldiers, who were dismissed from duty, passed by them, shoul- 
der to shoulder, with the regular step which they had learned at 
the drill. Whenever these encounters took place, it appeared to 
be the object of the young men to treat the soldiers with as 
much incivility as possible. 

3. "Turn out, you lobster-backs!" one would say. "Crowd 
them off the sidewalks ! " another would cry. "A red-coat has 
no right in Boston streets." " Oh, you rebel rascals!" perhaps 
the soldiers would reply, glaring fiercely at the young men, 
" Some day or other we'll make our way through Boston 
streets at the point of the bayonet ! " 

4. Once or twice such disputes as these brought on a 
scuffle; which passed off, however, without attracting much 
notice. ■ About eight o'clock, for some unknoAvn cause, an 
alarm-bell rang loudly and hurriedly. At the sound, many 
people ran out of their houses, supposing it to be an alarm of 
fire. But there were no flames to be seen, nor was there any 
smell of smoke in the clear, frosty air; so that most of the 
townsmen went back to their own firesides. Others, who were 
younger and less prudent, remained in the streets. 



1770.] American Revolution. 137 

5. Later in the evening, not far from nine o'clock, several 
young men passed down King-street, toward the custom- 
house. When they drew near the sentinel, he halted on his 
post, and took his musket from his shoulder, ready to present 
the bayonet at their breasts. " Who goes there ? " he cried, 
in the gruff tones of a soldier's challenge. The young men, 
being Boston boys, felt as if they had a right to walk in their 
own streets without being accountable to a British red-coat. 
They made some rude answer to the sentinel. There was a 
dispute, or perhaps a scuffle. Other soldiers heard the noise, 
and ran hastily from the barracks v to assist their comrade. 

6. At the same time many of the townspeople rushed into 
, King-street, by various avenues, and gathered in a crowd 

about the custom-house. It seemed wonderful how such a 
multitude had started up all of a sudden. The wrongs and 
insults which the people had been suffering for many months 
now kindled them into a rage. They threw snowballs and 
lumps of ice at the soldiers. -As the tumult grew louder, it 
reached the ears of Captain Preston, the officer of the day. 
He immediately ordered eight soldiers of the main guard to 
take their muskets and follow him. They marched across the 
street, forcing their way roughly through the crowd, and 
pricking the townspeople with their bayonets. 

7. A gentleman (it was Henry Knox, afterward general of 
the American Artillery) caught Captain Preston's arm. " For 
heaven's sake, sir," exclaimed he, " take heed what you do, or 
there will be bloodshed ! " " Stand aside ! " answered Captain 
Preston, haughtily; "do not interfere, sir. Leave me to 
manage the affair." Arriving at the sentinel's post, Captain 
Preston drew up his men in a semicircle, with their faces to 
the crowd. When the people saw the officer, and beheld the 
threatening attitude with which the soldiers fronted them, 
their rage became almost uncontrollable. 

8. " Fire, you lobster-backs ! " bellowed some. " You dare 
not fire, you cowardly red-coats," cried other. " Push upon 
them," shouted many voices. " Drive the rascals to their bar- 
racks ! Down with them ! Down with them ! Let them fire, 



138 The United States Reader. [1770, 

if they dare !*' Amid the uproar, the soldiers stood glaring at 
the people with the fierceness of men whose trade was to shed 
blood. 

9. Oh, what a crisis had now arrived! Up to this very 
moment the angry feelings betAveen England and America 
might have been pacified. England had. bnt to stretch out 
the hand of reconciliation, and acknowledge that she had. 
hitherto mistaken her rights, but would, do so no more. Then 
tbt' ancient bonds of brotherhood would again have been knit 
together as firmly as in old times. But, should the king's 
soldiers shed one drop of American blood, then it was a 
quarrel to the death. Never, never would America rest satis- 
fied, until she had torn down royal authority, and trampled it 
in the dust. 

10. " Eire, if yon dare, villains !" hoarsely shouted the people, 
while the mnzzles of the muskets were turned upon them; 
'•you dare not lire!" They appeared ready to rush upon the 
leveled bayonets. Captain Preston waved his sword, and 1 
uttered a command which could not be distinctly heard amid 
the uproar of shouts that issued from a hundred throats. But 
his soldiers deemed that he had spoken the fatal mandate, 
"Firet" The flash of their muskets lighted up the street, 
and the report rang loudly between the edifices. 

11. A gush of smoke overspread the scene. It rose heavily, 
as if it were loath to reveal the dreadful spectacle beneath it. 
Eleven of the sons of New England lay stretched upon the 
street. Some, sorely wounded, were struggling to rise again. 
Others stirred not, nor groaned, for they were past all pain. 
Blood was streaming upon the snow; and that purple stain, 
in the midst of King-street, though it melted away in the 
next day's sun, was never forgotten nor forgiven by the people. 

Tax lipon Tea, etc. — The opposition to the revenue measures induced 
Parliament to revoke all the duties laid in 1767, except that of threepence per 
pound on tea ; but, as the people were contending against the principle of 
" taxation without representation," and not against the amount of taxes im- 
posed, the concession was not satisfactory . 

The tea for New York and Philadelphia was sent back ; that for Charleston, 



1774.] American Revolution. 139 

being stored in damp cellars, perished. At Boston a party of men, since 
known as the " Boston Tea Party," disguised as Indians, boarded the ships on 
a moonlight night in December, 1773, broke open the chests of tea, and emptied 
their contents into the water. 

Boston Port Bill. — For the purpose of punishing the Bostonians, 
Parliament passed the Boston Port Bill, which prohibited all intercourse with 
Boston by water, and removed the custom-house to Salem. But the people of 
Salem generously refused to thrive at the expense of their neighbors, and the 
wharves of that town were offered for the use of the Boston merchants, free 
of charge. 

First General Congress, etc. — A general Congress, known as 
" The First Continental Congress," with Peyton Kandolph,* of Virginia, as 
president, met at Philadelphia, in September, 1774. All the colonies, except 
Georgia, were represented. After due deliberation, a Declaration of Eights 
was made ; the suspension of all commercial intercourse with Great Britain 
recommended ; and addresses were voted to the king and the people of Great 
Britain and Canada. 

3Iinute jtfen. — A conflict with Great Britain seemed inevitable. The 
men in Massachusetts capable of bearing arms were daily trained in military 
exercises, and pledged to take the field at a minute's notice, — hence their name 
of " Minute Men." Military measures were also adopted in other colonies, and 
a general determination was manifest to resist, even with arms, the new oppres" 
sions attempted to be imposed by Great Britain. 

The First American Congress. — Maxcy. 

1. The interposition of Divine Providence was eminently 
conspicuous in the first general Congress. What men ! what 
patriots! what independent, heroic spirits! Chosen hy the un- 
biased people, — chosen, as all public servants ought to be, with- 
out favor and without fear, — what an angnst assembly of- sages ? 
Borne, in the height of her glory, fades before it. 

2. There never was, in any age or nation, a body of men, 
who, for general information, for the jndicions use of the results 
of civil and political history, for elocpience and virtue, for 
true dignity, elevation, and grandeur of soul, could stand a 
comparison with the first American Congress ! See what the 
people will do when left to themselves, to their unbiased good 

* Peyton Randolph was born in Virginia, in 1723. As stated above, he was the president of "The 
First Continental Congress.." He was also elected president of the second Congress, held at Phila- 
delphia in the following year, but political duties calling him to Virginia before the close of its ses- 
sion, he was succeeded in the position by John Hancock, of Massachusetts. His death was sudden, 
occurring at Philadelphia, toward the close of October, 1775. 



140 The United States Reader. [1775. 

sense, and to their true interests ! The ferocious Gaul would 
have dropped his sword at the hall-door, and have fled, thun- 
derstruck, as from an assembly of gods ! 

3. Whom do I behold ? — A Hancock, a Jefferson, an Adams, 
a Henry, a Lee, a Rn tledge ! Glory to your immortal spirits ! 
On you depend the destinies of your country; the fate of three 
millions of men, and of the countless millions of their posterity v \ 
Shall these be slaves, or will you make a noble stand for liberty, 
against a power whose triumphs are already coextensive with 
the earth; whose legions trample on thrones and sceptres; 
whose thunders bellow on every ocean? How tremendous 
the occasion! How vast the responsibility! 

4. The president and all the members of this august assembly 
take 'their seats. Every countenance tells the mighty struggle 
with in. Every tongue is silent. It is a pause in nature, — that 
solemn, awful stillness, which precedes the earthquake and 
tornado! At length Demosthenes arises, — he only is adequate 
to the great occasion, — the Virginian Demosthenes, the mighty 
Henry! What dignity! What majesty! Every eye fastens 
upon him. Firm, erect, undaunted, he rolls on the mighty tor- 
]vni of his eloquence. 

5. What a picture does he draw of the horrors of ser.itu.de 
and the charms of freedom! At once he gives the full rein to 
all his gigantic powers, and pours his own heroic spirit into the 
minds of his auditors ; they become as one man — actuated by 
one soul ; and the universal shout is " Liberty or Death ! " 
This single speech of this illustrious man, gave an impulse 
which probably decided the fate of America. 

[This Congress prepared and issued several State papers, which showed great polit- 
ical wisdom, as well as consummate statesmanship. The Earl of Chatham, in the 
House of Lords, pronounced the following eulogium upon it and its members : " I 
must declare and avow that in all my reading and study of history,— (and it has been my 
favorite study— I have read Thucydides, and have studied and admired the master States 
of the world) — that, for solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclu- 
sion, under such a complication of circumstances, no nation or body of men can stand 
in preference to the General Congress at Philadelphia. 11 ] 

Events of 1775. — Battle of Lexington. — On the night of the 
18th of April, 1775, Gen. Gage dispatched eight hundred troops, under Col. 
Smith and Major Pitcaim {pit' kame) , to destroy some military supplies which 



1775.] American Revolution. 141 

the Americans had collected at Concord, a town in Massachusetts, about sixteen 
miles from Boston. 

The patriots of Boston, having had a suspicion of such a movement, were 
on the alert. By preconcerted signals, the alarm was given, and when the 
British reached Lexington,* early on the following morning, April 19th, about 
seventy of the militia were drawn up under arms. The king's troops fired upon 
them, killing and wounding several. Then was shed the first blood of the 
Revolution. At Concord some of the supplies were destroyed ; but the militia 
beginning to assemble, a skirmish took place, in which several were killed on 
both sides. On their way back to Boston, the British were re-enforced at Lex- 
ington ; but during their retreat, as far as Charlestown, the Americans pursued, 
keeping up a constant and destructive fire upon them. The loss of the British 
during the day was over two hundred : that of the patriots was about ninety. 

Battle of Lexington. — O. W. Holmes. 

Slowly the mist o'er the meadow was creeping, 

Bright on the dewy buds glistened the sun, 
When from his couch, while his children were sleeping, 
Rose the bold rebel and shouldered his gun. 

Waving her golden veil 

Over the silent dale, 
Blithe looked the morning on cottage and spire ; 

Hushed was his parting sigh, 

While from his noble eye 
Flashed the last sparkle of liberty's fire. 

On the smooth green where the fresh leaf is springing, 

Calmly the first-born of glory have met; 
Hark ! the death-volley around them is ringing ! 
Look ! with their life-blood the young grass is wet ! 
Faint is the feeble breath, 
Murmuring low 7 in death, 
"Tell to our sons how their fathers have died;" 
Nerveless the iron hand, 
Raised for its native land, 
Lies by the weapon that gleams at its side. 

Over the hill-sides the wild knell is tolling, 
From their far hamlets the yeomanry v come ; 

As through the storm-clouds the thunder-burst rolling, 
Circles the beat of the mustering drum. 

* Lexington, the scene of the first encounter between the British and Americans in the Revo- 
lutionary contest, is situated about ten miles northwest from Boston, and seven miles east from 
Concord. At the time of ihe encounter the town contained about seven hundred inhabitants. 



142 The United States Reader. [i664 

Fast on the soldier's path 

Darken the waves of wrath, 
Long have they gathered, and loud shall they fall; 

Red glares the musket's flash, 

Sharp rings the rifle's crash, 
Blazing and clanging from thicket and wall. 

Gaily the plume of the horseman was dancing, 

Never to shadow his cold brow again ; 
Proudly at morning the war-steed was prancing; 
Reeking and panting he droops ou the rein; 

Pale is the lip of scorn, 

Voiceless the trumpet horn, 
Torn is the silken-fringed red cross on high; 

Many a belted breast 

Low on the turf shall rest, 
Ere the dark hunters the herd have passed by. 

Snow-girdled crags where the hoarse wind is raving, 

Rocks where the weary floods murmur and wail, 
Wilds where the fern by the furrow is waving, 
Reeled with the echoes that rode on the gale; 

Far as the tempest thrills 

Over the darkened hills, 
Far as the sunshine streams over the plain, 

Roused by the tyrant band, 

Woke all the mighty land, 
Girded for battle, from mountain to main. 

Green be the graves where her martyrs are lying! 

Shroudless and tombless they suuk to their rest, — 
While o'er their ashes the starry fold flying 

Wraps the proud eagle they roused from his nesl 

Borne on her Northern pine, 

Long o'er the foaming brine 
Spread her broad banner to storm and to sun; 

Heaven keep her ever free, 

Wide as o'er land and sea 
Floats the fair emblem her heroes have won ! 



1755 American Revolution. 143 

Capture of Ticonderoga. — Ethan Allen. 

1. Ever since I arrived at the state of manhood, and ac- 
quainted myself with the general history of mankind, I have felt 
a sincere passion for liberty. The history of nations doomed to 
perpetual slavery, in consequence of yielding up to tyrants their 
natural-born liberties, I read with a sort of philosophical horror ; 
so that the first systematical and bloody attempt, at Lexington, 
to enslave America, thoroughly electrified my mind, and fully 
determined me to take part with my country. And, while I 
was wishing for an opportunity to signalize myself in its behalf, 
directions were privately sent to me from the colony (now State) 
of Connecticut, to raise the Green Mountain Boys, and, if possi- 
ble, with them to surprise and take the fortress of Ticonderoga. 

2. This enterprise I cheerfully undertook; and, after first 
guarding all the several passes that led thither, to cut off all 
intelligence between the garrison and the country, made a forced 
march from Bennington, and arrived at the lake opposite to 
Ticonderoga, on the evening of the 9th of May, 1775, with two 
hundred and thirty valiant Green Mountain Boys ; and it was 
with the utmost difficulty that I procured boats to cross the 
lake. However, I landed eighty-three men near the garrison, 
and sent the boats back for the rear-guard, commanded by Col- 
onel Seth Warner ; but the day began to dawn, and I found 
myself under the necessity to attack the fort before the rear 
could cross the lake ; and, as it was deemed hazardous, I har- 
angued the officers and soldiers in the manner following : 

3. " Friends and fellow-soldiers: You have, for a number of 
years past, been a scourge and terror to arbitrary power. Your 
valor has been famed abroad, and acknowledged, as appears by 
the advice and orders to me from the General Assembly of Con- 
necticut, to surprise and take the garrison now before us. I 
now propose to advance before you, and in person conduct you 
through the wicket-gate ; for we must this morning either quit 
our pretensions to valor, or possess ourselves of this fortress in 
a few minutes; and, inasmuch as it is a desperate attempt, 
which none but the bravest of men dare undertake, I do not 

7 



144 The United States Reader. [ins* 

urge it on any one contrary to his will. You that will under- 
take voluntarily, poise your firelocks." 

4. The men being at this time drawn up in three ranks, each 
poised his iiivlock. I ordered them to face to the right, and, at 
the head of the centre file, marched them immediately to the 
wicket-gate aforesaid, where I found a sentry posted, who in- 
stantly snapped his fdsee T at me. I ran immediately toward him, 
and he retreated through the covered way into the parade within 
the garrison, gave a halloo, and ran under a bomb-proof*. My 
party, who followed me into the fort, I formed on the parade in 
Buch a manner as to face the two barracks, which faced each other. 

5. The garrison being asleep, except the sentries, we gave 
three huzzas, which greatly surprised them. One of the 
sentries made a pass at one of my officers with a charged 
bayonet, and slightly wounded him. My first thought was to 
kill him with my sword; but, in an instant, I altered the 
design and fury of the blow to a slight cut on the side of the 
head, upon which he dropped his gun, and asked quarter, 
which I readily granted him, and demanded of him the place 
where the commanding officer slept. 

6. He showed me a pair of stairs in the front of a barrack, 
on the west part of the garrison, which led up to a second story 
in said barrack, to which I immediately repaired, and ordered 
the commander, Captain de la Place, to come forth instantly, 
or I would sacrifice the whole garrison ; at which the captain 
came immediately to the door with his breeches in his hand, 
when I ordered him to deliver me the fort instantly. He 
asked me by what authority I demanded it; I answered him, 
u In the name of the Great Jehovah, and the Continental 
( bngress" 

7. The authority of the Congress being very little known at 
that time, he began to speak again ; but I interrupted him, 
and, with my drawn sword over his head, again demanded an 
immediate surrender of the garrison ; with which he then 
complied, and ordered his men to be forthwith paraded without 
arms, as he had given up the garrison. In the meantime, 
some of my officers had given orders, and in consequence 



1775.] American Revohction. 145 

thereof, sundry of the barrack doors were beat down, and 
about one-third of the garrison imprisoned, which consisted of 
the said commander, a Lieutenant Feltham, a conductor of 
artillery, a gunner, two sergeants, and forty-four rank and 
file; about one hundred pieces of cannon, one thirteen-inch 
mortar*, and a number of swivels*. 

8. This surprise was carried into execution in the gray of 
the morning of the 10th of May, 1775. The sun seemed to 
rise that morning with a superior lustre; and Ticonderoga 
and its dependencies smiled to its conquerors, who tossed 
about the flowing bowl, and wished success to Congress, and 
the liberty and freedom of America. — Narrative of his own 
Captivity. 

Second Continental Congress. — The second Continental Congress 
had assembled at Philadelphia on the very day of the capture of Ticonderoga 
(May 10th). That body decided to raise an army of 20,000 men, and appointed 
Washington commander-in-chief. 

The Appointment of General Washington. — Sparks. 

1. These preliminary* arrangements being finished, the 
next thing was to appoint a commander-in-chief of the Ameri- 
can armies. This was a task of more delicacy and difficulty 
than might at first be supposed. Many considerations were to 
be weighed, besides the personal qualifications of any individual 
for that high station, either as to character, abilities, or mili- 
tary skill. 

2. In the first place, it was essential that he should be accep- 
table to all the colonies, and particularly to such as, from their 
position and extent, would be compelled to take the largest 
share in the war. Otherwise, local jealousies and discontents 
might spring up, which would defeat the best-laid schemes, 
and possibly ruin the cause. Next, there were officers in the 
country, older in years than Colonel Washington, who had 
acquired a reputation in the last war, and whose services 
would be necessary. 

3. To pass over such as would be thought by themselves or 
their friends to have higher claims, on the score of former 



146 The United States Reader. [1775. 

rank and standing, a point on which military men are always 
so sensitive, might be a hazardous experiment. Besides, the 
troops already in the field were wholly from the New England 
provinces, and it was uncertain how far they would be recon- 
ciled to the appointment of a commander from the South, with 
whom no one among them had a personal acquaintance, and 
who could not be supposed to understand their habits, feelings, 
and prepossessions*. General Ward, who had hitherto been at 
the head of the army by the appointment of Massachusetts, 
and whose command was cheerfully acquiesced v in by the other 
New England colonies, was an officer of experience and ability, 
and it was questionable in what light an attempt to supersede 
him might be viewed. 

4. These difficulties were deeply felt by the members of 
Congress, and examined in all their bearings. Nor had they 
come together without previously pondering the subject, and 
ascertaining, as far as they could, the views of men of influence 
in different places. From the first Congress they had gone 
home with most favorable impressions of the character and 
iahnts of -Colonel Washington. All the world acknowledged 
his military accomplishments, intellectual resources, courage, 
coolness, and control over the minds of others. Five years' 
experience, in a responsible and a/duous service, had afforded 
ample proofs of these qualities. 

5. It was fortunate, also, that political motives conspired to 
fix the choice on him in preference to any other person. Vir- 
ginia was powerful in wealth and numbers, and doubly so in 
its men of brilliant parts, who had espoused the cause of the 
continent with a spirit and resolution which had nowhere else 
been surpassed. To take the commander of the American 
armies from that province was a dictate of policy, which the 
wise and prudent would not overlook, and none but the 
narrow-minded could disapprove. 

6. It should be said, to the credit of the New England dele- 
gates, that they were among the foremost to propose, and the 
most zealous to promote, the appointment of Colonel Washington. 
As the contest had begun in Massachusetts, the inhabitants of 



17 75.] American Revolution. 147 

which had been the chief sufferers, and as the existing army 
was mostly raised there, it could not have been thought an ex- 
travagant assumption, had that colony aspired to the honor of 
furnishing a commander-in-chief. But, happily for America, 
the patriots of that day rose far above the sordid aims of 
selfishness and party rivalships. 

7. While the discussions were going on in Congress respect- 
ing military preparations, Mr. John Adams, one of the delegates 
from Massachusetts, moved that the army, then besieging the 
British troops in Boston, should be adopted by Congress as a 
Continental army ; and, in the course of his observations en- 
forcing this motion, he said it was his intention to propose for 
the office of commander-in-chief a gentleman from Virginia, 
who was at that time a member of their own body. His re- 
marks were so pointed, that all present perceived them to apply 
to Colonel Washington, who, upon hearing this reference to 
himself, retired from his seat and withdrew. 

8. When the day for the appointment arrived, the nomination 
was made by Mr. Thomas Johnson, of Maryland. The choice 
was by ballot ; and, on inspecting the votes, it was found that 
Colonel Washington was unanimously elected. As soon as the 
result was ascertained, the House adjourned. On the conven- 
ing of Congress the next morning, the president communicated 

to him officially the notice of his appointment, and he rose in 
his place and signified his acceptance in a brief and appropriate 
reply. 

9. After expressing his thanks for the signal honor done him 
by Congress, and his concern, " from the consciousness that his 
abilities and military experience might not be equal to the ex- 
tensive and important trust," he added : " lest some unlucky 
event should happen, unfavorable to my reputation, I beg it 
may be remembered by every gentleman in the room, that I 
this day declare,. with the utmost sincerity, I do not think my- 
self equal to the command I am honored with." 

10. Before the election it had been voted that five hundred 
dollars a month should be allowed for the pay and expenses of 
the general. On this point he said: "I beg leave to assure 



148 The United States Reader. [17*5. 

the Congress that, as no pecuniary* consideration could have 
tempted me to accept this arduous employment, at the expense 
of my domestic ease and happiness, I do not wish to make any 
profit from it. I will keep an exact account of my expenses. 
Those, I doubt not, they will discharge; and that is all I 
desire." 

11. In a letter to his wife on this occasion, his sentiments are 
uttered with the same frankness, the same self-distrust, and under 
circumstances which prove them to have flowed from his heart. 
"You may believe me," said he, "when I assure you in the most 
solemn manner, that, so far from seeking this appointment, I 
have used every endeavor in my power to avoid it, not only from 
my unwillingness to part with you and the family, but from a 
consciousness of its being a trust too great for my capacity, and 
that I should enjoy more real happiness in one month with 
you at home, than I have the most distant prospect of finding 
abroad, if my stay were to be seven times seven years. 

12. "But as it has been a kind of destiny that has thrown 
me upon this service, I shall hope that my undertaking it is 
designed to answer some good purpose. You might, and I 
suppose did, perceive, from the tenor of my letters, that I was 
apprehensive I could not avoid this appointment, as I did 
not pretend to intimate when I should return. That was the 
case. It was utterly out of my power to refuse this appoint- 
ment, without exposing my character to such censures as would 
have reflected dishonor upon myself, and given pain to my 
friends. This, I am sure, could not and ought not to be pleas- 
ing to you, and must have lessened me considerably in my own 
esteem. I shall rely, therefore, confidently on that Providence 
which has hitherto preserved and been bountiful to me." 

13. The appointment was made on the 15th of June. Four 
days afterward, he received his commission from the president 
of Congress, in which he was declared to be commander-in- 
chief of all the forces then raised, or that should be raised, in 
the United Colonies, or that should voluntarily offer their service 
for the defense of American liberty. The members of Con- 
gress pledged themselves, by a unanimous resolve, to maintain, 



1775.] American Revolution. 149 

assist, and adhere to him, with their lives and fortunes, in the 
same cause. 

14. Four major-generals and eight brigadiers were likewise 
appointed for the Continental army. To the former rank were 
chosen Artemus Ward, Charles Lee, Philip Schuyler (shi'ler), 
and Israel Putnam; to the latter, Seth Pomiw, Richard Mont- 
gomery, David "Wooster, William Heath, Joseph Spencer, John 
Thomas, John Sullivan, and Nathaniel Greene. To these was 
added Horatio Gates, as adjutant-general, with the rank of 
brigadier. — Life of Washington. 

Battle of Bunker Hill. — As it was evident that the British meditated 
offensive operations, Colonel Prescott was sent, on the evening of the 16th of 
June, with a detachment of one thousand men, to fortify Bunker Hill; but, 
on attaining the heights, he concluded to fortify Breed's Hill instead, this being 
nearer to Boston. The British, on the following morning, discovering the 
redoubt, commenced a cannonade upon it; and, this failing, three thousand 
men, under General Howe, were sent to dislodge the patriots. 

Twice did the British appi-oach within a few rods of the redoubt, but each 
time were repulsed with heavy loss. Clinton arriving, the third charge was 
more successful ; since the Americans had exhausted their ammunition and 
were forced to retreat. The severest loss of the Americans was the brave and 
patriotic General Warren.* This determined, and for a time successful, resist- 
ance on the part of the American soldiers was so encouraging that it had all 
the effect of a triumph.f 

Warren's Address.— John Pierpont. 

Stand ! the ground's your own, my braves ! 
Will ye give it up to slaves ? 
Will ye look for greener graves ? 

Hope ye mercy still ? 
What's the mercy despots feel ? 
Hear it in that battle-peal ! 
Head it on yon bristling steel ! 

Ask it — ye who will. 

* Gen. Joseph Warren was born in Massachusetts in 1741 ; graduated at Harvard Cullege, studied 
medicine, became a physician in Boston, and was one of the most earnest and eloquent leaders in re- 
sisting the unjust measures of the British Government. His loss was sincerely lamented by his 
countrymen. 

+ Bunker Hill monument, an obelisk two hundred and twenty-one feet high, erected in commemora- 
tion of the battle, now stands on the spot where the redoubt was built on Breed's Hill. Its corner-stone 
was laid by General Lafayette, on the 17th of June, 1825, the fiftieth anniversary of the battle. An 
immense concourse of persons was present on the occasion, including nearly two hundred revolution- 
ary soldiers and forty surviving patriots of the battle, and President John Quincy Adams, with his 
entire cabinet. Daniel Webster delivered the oration. 



i5o The United States Reader. [i*w« 

Fear ye foes who kill for hire ? 
Will ye to your homes retire ? 
Look behind you ! They're afire ! 

And, before you, see 
Who have done it ! — From the vale 
On they come ! — and will ye quail ! — 
Leaden rain and iron hail 

Let their welcome be ! 

In the God of battles trust! 
Die we may — and die we must; 
But, oh, where can dust to dust 

Be consigned so well, 
As where heaven its dews shall shed, 
On the martyred patriot's bed, 
And the rocks shall raise their head, 

Of his deeds to tell ? 

In their ragged regimentals 
Stood the old Continentals, 

Yielding not, 
When the grenadiers were lunging, 
And like hail fell the plunging 
Cannon shot; 
When the files 
Of the Isles 
From the smoky night encampment bore the banner of the rampant 

Unicorn ; 
And grummer, grnmmer, grummer, rolled the roll of the drummer 
Through the morn. — Mac Master. 

Conduct of Lord Dunmore. — Lord Dunmore, the governor of 
Virginia, took a decided course against the patriots ; but, owing to the activity 
of Patrick Henry and others, he was compelled to make compensation for a 
quantity of powder which he had seized. Some months later, a force of Tories 
and negroes which he had collected attacked a body of Virginians near Nor- 
folk ; but the assailants were repulsed with great loss. In revenge, Dnnmore, 
on the first day of the new year, reduced Norfolk to ashes. 

Invasion of Canada. — To prevent the use of Canada by the British 
as a place of rendezvous and supply, an invasion by two forces was determined 
upon. Accordingly, Gen. Schuyler,* commanding one, was sent by the way 
of Lake Champlain ; while the other, under Gen. Arnold, took the route by 
the Kennebec Eiver. Schuyler proceeded but a short distance when, sickness 

* Philip Schuyler was born at Albany. New York, in 1733. He was engaged in the French and 
Indian war, and accompanied Sir William Johnson in 1755. His death occurred at Albany, in 1804. 



1775.] American Revolution. i5i 

compelling him to return, the next in command, Gen. Montgomery,* gained 
possession of Fort Chambly (shamble), St. John's, and Montreal, and then 
moved against Quebec. 

Arnold, having performed a tedious march through the wilderness, effected a 
junction of his force with that of Montgomery's, and, with the latter officer in 
the chief command, Quebec was besieged for three weeks. Finally, it was 
resolved to make an assault upon the city, notwithstanding the fearful strength 
of its fortifications. 

Montgomery's Attack on Quebec— Parton. 

1. The attack, it was agreed at the council of war. should take 
place at night, and in a snow-storm. By the 20th of December 
the preparations were complete, and nightly the little army 
awaited the signal, and the sentinel watched the heavens for 
signs of the gathering storm. The weather was bitterly cold ; 
the small-pox was making fearful ravages among the troops ; 
tl^ere was no hope of an alleviation v to their sufferings but in 
$%pturing the fortress-crowned heights above them. 
' 2. The last night of the year 1775 had come ; and a brilliant 
moon, when the patriot army retired to rest, was flooding with 
light the fields of snow, the ice-batteries, the town, and the 
lofty citadel. No one expected to be aroused that night by the 
familiar signal. Bnt, at midnight, the heavens became sud- 
denly overcast, and a northeasterly snow-storm, of unusual 
violence, came driving over the scene. The general was 
roused. At a glance he saw that the hour had come, and 
gave the order for the troops to get under arms. 

3. Burr assisted in communicating the order to the divisions, 
and soon had his storming-party in readiness to move. By 
personal inspection, by the touch of his own hand, he assured 
himself that the men under his immediate direction were 
equipped as he had determined they should be on the decisive 
night. By two o'clock the men had been carefully inspected, 
and were ready to march to the points whence they were to 
assault the town. 

4. About nine hundred men answered to their names that 

* Richard Montgomery was born in Ireland, in 1736. In 1775, he was a representative from New 
York in the Continental Congress. 

17* 



1 52 The United States Reader. [irrs. 

morning. They were divided into four parties, only two of 
which were designed to fight; the others were to distract the 
garrison by feints at places remote from the scene of serious 
attack. One of the lighting parties was led by Arnold ; the 
other, in spite of the remonstrances of Burr and others of the 
general's family, was commanded by Montgomery, whose 
towering form appeared at the head of the column. At four 
o'clock the divisions had reached their designated posts. At 
live the signal of attack was given, and the chilled soldiers, 
impatient to move, began the ascent through the snow-drifts, 
and in the teeth of the storm. 

5. Captain Burr marched side by side with his general at the 
head of the division, as it hurried along the St. Lawrence to 
the defenses under Cape Diamond. These were well known to 
the vigilant aid-de-camp v . First, the attacking party came 
upon a row of pickets, which the general, with his own hands, 
assisted to cut away. Pushing on through the snow and 
darkness, they reached, a few paces beyond, a second row of 
pickets, behind which was a square, two-story block-house, 
loop-holed above for musketry, and pierced below for two 
twelve-pounders, which, charged with grape, commanded the 
narrow gorge up which an enemy must advance. 

6. It was not till the Americans had begun to remove the 
second row of pickets that the British guard became aware of 
the presence of an enemy. Delivering one ineffectual fire, 
they lied to the block-house, and, communicating their terror 
to the party within, who were mostly sailors and militia, the 
whole body fled without once discharging the cannon. But 
their panic, unfortunately, was not perceived by the Americans, 
and a delay, short but fatal, occurred. 

7. Masses of ice, left on the Avinter subsidence 7 of the river, 
obstructed the ascent, and several minutes elapsed before a suf- 
ficient number of men could clamber over these and form 
within the second picket to attack the block-house. In 
smoothing the pathway, the general himself tugged at the 
great blocks of ice with furious energy. At length, two hun- 
dred men were formed in column. The general was at its head, 
as before. Burr was at his side. 



1776.] American Revolution. 153 

8. Two other aids, an orderly sergeant, and a French guide, 
completed the group in advance. "Push on, brave boys, 
Quebec is ours," cried Montgomery, as the column began to 
move up the ascent. On they marched to within forty paces 
of the block-house. At that moment, a sailor who had fled 
from his post, surprised that the Americans did not advance, 
ventured back to discover the reason. Through one of the 
port-holes of the block-house he saw the advancing party, and 
turned to run away again ; but as he turned, he performed an 
act which decided the fortunes of the day, and gave Canada 
back again to Britain. He touched off one of those grape- 
charged cannon. 

9. Forward fell the majestic form of Montgomery, never to 
rise again. Down went two of his aids, mortally wounded. 
The orderly sergeant, too, never saw daylight again. Every 
man that marched in front of the column, except Captain 
Burr and the guide, was struck down to death by the discharge 

•of that twelve-pounder. The day was just dawning, and the 
soldiers were soon aware of the whole extent of the catastrophe. 
The column halted and wavered. The command fell into 
incompetent hands. Priceless minutes were lost in those 
consultations by which cowardice loves to hide its trepidation. 
.... The enemy returned to the block-house, and opened 
fire on the assailants. The retreat soon became a precipitate 
and disorderly retreat. — Life of Aaron Burr. 

Evacuation of Canada. — Arnold, though wounded, took command 
of the troops that had effected, a retreat, and, in an encampment a short distance 
from Quebec, passed a rigorous winter. In the spring, Gen. Wooster arrived 
and took the command ; and he, in turn, was succeeded by Gen. Thomas. By 
the middle of June, 1776, the Americans had abandoned one place after another, 
and entirely evacuated Canada. 

Events of 1770.— Evacuation of Bost on. —Washington, who 
had arrived at Cambridge about three weeks after his appointment as com- 
mander-in-chief, and had there taken command of the army, determined to 
drive the British from Boston ; but no plan of operations was fully determined 
upon before the early part of March, 1776. Then, in one night, intrenchments 
were thrown up on Dor'ches-ter Heights, which completely commanded the 
city and harbor of Boston. 



1 54 The United States Reader. [1776. 

Gen. Howe, who had succeeded Gage in the command, being unahle to dis- 
lodge the Americans, informally agreed to evacuate the city without setting fire 
to it, upon condition that, while doing so, his army should not be molested 
from the batteries on the heights. Accordingly, on the 17th of March, 177G, 
the British troops, accompanied by fifteen hundred families of loyalists, em- 
barked on board the ships in the harbor, and sailed for Halifax. 

lie pulse of the British from Charleston. — General Clinton, at 
the head of an expedition, set out to attack New York, but finding that 
Washington had sent General Lee thither with a force to protect the city, he 
sailed further south, and was joined by Sir Peter Parker and Lord Cornwallis 
with a fleet and troops from England. The whole force then proceeded against 
Charleston. 

The people of Charleston had made preparations against an attack, by erect- 
ing a fort of palmetto-wood on Sullivan's Island, which commanded the channel 
leading to the town. This was garrisoned by five hundred men, under Col. 
Moultrie {mole'trt ). On the morning of the 28th of June, the fleet approached 
Sullivan's Island ; bat, after a conflict of nine hours, during which Clinton was 
defeated in an attempt to reach the island, the ships, much shattered, drew off, 
and afterward sailed to the North. 

Declaration of Independence* — In the meantime, Congress, then 
in session at Philadelphia, was preparing to declare a separation of the political 
relations existing between Great Britain and the colonies. A resolution to that 
effect having been offered by Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, on the 7th of 
June, was passed by a large majority on the 2d of July. Two days after, 
Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia, in behalf of a committee of five members, 
presented a document which he had prepared; and then, July 4th, 1776, 
this document, the Declauation of Independence, was unanimously 
adopted by Congress. 

Independence Bell.— July 4th, 1776.— Anon. 

When it was certain that the Declaration of Independence 
would be adopted by Congress, it was resolved to announce the 
event by ringing the old State-House bell, which bore the in- 
scription : " Proclaim liberty to the land : to all the inhabitants 
thereof!" The old bellman, accordingly, placed his little son 
at the door of the hall, to await the instruction of the door- 
keeper when to ring; and, when the word was given, the little 
patriot-scion rushed out, and, flinging up his hands, shouted 
aloud, "King! Ring! RIXG!" 



1776.] American Revolution, i5\ 

1. There was tumult in the city, 

In the quaint old Quakers' town, 
And the streets were rife with people, 

Pacing restless up and down ; — 
People gathering at corners, 

Where they whispered each to each, 
And the sweat stood on their temples, 

With the earnestness of speech. 

2. As the bleak Atlantic currents 

Lash the wild Newfoundland shore, 
So they beat against the State-House, 

So they surged against the door ; 
And the mingling of their voices 

Made a harmony profound, 
Till the quiet street of Chestnut 

Was all turbulent with sound. 

3. " Will they do it ?" " Dare they do it ?" 

" Who is speaking ?" " What's the news V* 
" What of Adams V" " What of Sherman ?" 

" Oh, God grant they won't refuse !" 
" Make some way there !" " Let me nearer !" 
" I am stifling !" " Stifle, then ! 
When a nation's life's at hazard, 
We've no time to think of men !" 

4. So they beat against the portal, 

Man and woman, maid and child ; 
And the July sun in heaven 

Cm the scene look'd down and smiled ; 
The same sun that saw the Spartan 

Shed his patriot blood in vain, 
Now beheld the soul of freedom 

All unconquer'd rise again. 

5. See ! See ! The dense crowd quivers 

Through all its lengthy line, 
As the boy beside the portal 

Looks forth to give the sign ! 
With his small hands upward lifted, 

Breezes dallying with his hair, 
Hark ! with deep, clear intonation, 

Breaks his young voice on the air. 



1 56 The United States Reader. [W«. 

G. Hush'd the people's swelling murmur, 

List the boy's strong, joyous cry! 
" Rinr/f " he shouts, " Ring ! Grandpa, 

Ring ! On, Ring for Liberty ! " 
And straightway, at the signal, 

The old bellman lifts his hand, 
And sends the good news, making 

Iron music through the land. 

7. How they shouted ! What rejoicing ! 

How the old bell shook the air, 
Till the clang of freedom ruffled 

The calm, gliding Delaware ! 
How the bonfires and the torches 

Illumed the night's repose, 
And from the flames, like Phoenix, 

Fair Liberty arose ! 

8. That old bell now is silent, 

And hush'd its iron tongue, 
But the spirit it awakened 

Still lives, — forever young. 
And while we greet the sunlight, 

On the fourth of each July, 
We'll ne'er forget the bellman, 

Who, twixt the earth and sky, 
Rung out Our Independence : 

Which, please God, shall never die! 

Speech of John Adams. — Webster. 

[John Adams was the most prominent advocate of the Declaration of Independence 
in Congress. The following speech, though not that which he delivered (for no report 
of it is extant), embodies the sentiments and some of the expressions which he is known 
to have uttered on the occasion of the consideration and final passage of the Declaration. 
It forms a part of Daniel Webster's great oration in eulogy of Adams and Jefferson, pro- 
nounced on the 2d of August, 1826.] 

1. Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my 
hand and my heart to this vote. It is true, indeed, that in the 
beginning we aimed not at independence. .But "there's a 
Divinity which shapes our ends." The injustice of England 
has driven us to arms ; and, blinded to her own interest for our 
good, she has obstinately persisted, till independence is now 



1776.] American Revolution. 1 57 

within our grasp. We have but to reach forth to it, and it is 
ours. ' 

2. Why, then, should we defer the Declaration ? Is any man 
so weak as now to hope for a reconciliation with England, 
which shall leave either safety to the country and its liberties, 
or safety to her own life and honor ? Are not you, sir, wiio sit 
in that chair ; is not he, our venerable colleague" near you ; are 
you not both already the proscribed v and predestined" objects 
of punishment and vengeance ? Cut off from all hope of royal 
clemency, what are you, what can you be, while the power of 
England remains, but outlaws ? 

3. If we postpone independence, do we mean to carry on, 
or give up, the war ? Do we mean to submit to the measures 
of Parliament", Boston Port Bill and all ? Do we mean to 
submit and consent that we ourselves shall be ground to 
powder, and our country and its rights trodden down in the 
dust? I know we do not mean to submit. We never shall 
submit. Do we intend to violate that most solemn obligation 
ever entered into by men, that plighting" before God, of our 
sacred honor to Washington, when putting him forth to incur 
the dangers of war, as well as the political hazards of the 
times, we promised to adhere to him, in every extremity, with 
our fortunes and our lives ? 

4. I know there is not a man here who would not rather see 
a general conflagration sweep over the land, or an earthquake 
sink it, than one jot or tittle of that plighted faith fall to the 
ground. For myself, having, twelve months ago, in this place, 
moved you, that George Washington be appointed commander 
of the forces raised, or to be raised, for defense of American 
liberty, may my right hand forget her cunning, and my tongue 
cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I hesitate or waver in the 
support I give him. 

5. The war, then, must go on. We must fight it through. 
And if the war must go on, why put off longer the Declaration 
of Independence ? That measure will strengthen us. It will 
give us character abroad. The nations will treat with us, 
which they can never do while we acknowledge ourselves sub- 



i 53 The United States Reader. [1776. 

jccts in arms against onr sovereign. Nay, I maintain that 
E no-land herself Avill sooner treat for peace with ns on the 
footing of independence, than consent, by repealing her acts, 
to acknowledge that her whole conduct toward ns has been a 
course of injustice and oppression. 

6. Her pride will be less wounded by submitting to that 
course of things which now predestinates our independence, 
than by yielding the points in controversy to her rebellious 
subjects. The former she would regard as the result of for- 
tune; the latter she would feel as her own deep .disgrace. 
Why, then, why then, sir, do we not as soon as possible change 
this from a civil to a national war? And since we must fight 
it through, why not put ourselves in a state to enjoy all the 
benefits of victory, if we gain the victory? 

7. If we fail, it can be no worse for us. But we shall not 
fail. The cause will raise up armies; the cause will create 
navies. The people, the people, if we are true to them, will 
cany us, and will carry themselves, gloriously through this 
Btruggle. I care not how fickle other people have been found. 
I know the people of these colonies, and I know that resistar.ee 
to British aggression is deep and settled in their hearts, and 
cannot be eradicated*. Every colony, indeed, has expressed its 
willingness to follow, if we but take the lead. Sir, the Decla- 
ration will inspire the people with increased courage. 

8. Instead of a long and bloody war for the restoration of 
privileges, for redress of grievances, for chartered immunities', 
held under a British king, set before them the glorious object 
of entire independence, and it will breathe into them anew the 
breath of life. Eead this Declaration at the head of the army; 
every sword will be drawn from its scabbard, and the solemn 
vow uttered to maintain it or to perish on the bed of honor. 
Publish it from the pulpit; religion will approve it, and the 
love of religious liberty will cling around it, resolved to stand 
with it or fall with it. Send it to the public halls; proclaim it 
there; let them hear it who heard the first roar of the enemy's 
cannon; let them see it who saw their brothers and their sons 
fall on the field of Bunker Hill and in the streets of Lexing- 



1776.] American Revolution. i5g 

ton and Concord, and the very walls will cry out in its sup- 
port. 

9. Sir, I know the uncertainty of human affairs; but I see, 
I see clearly through this day's business. You and I, indeed, may 
rue it. We may not live to the time when this Declaration 
shall be made good. We may die ; die colonists ; die slaves ; die, 
it may be, ignominiously v , and on the scaffold. Be it so. Be it so. 
If it be the pleasure of Heaven that my country shall require 
the poor offering of my life, the victim shall be ready at the 
appointed hour of sacrifice, come when that hour may. But 
while I do live, let me have a country, or at least the hope of a 
country, and that a free country. 

10. But whatever may be our fate, be assured, be assured 
that this Declaration will stand. It may cost treasure, and it 
may cost blood ; but it will stand, and it will richly compen- 
sate for both. Through the thick gloom of the present, I see the 
brightness of the future, as the sun in heaven. We shall make 
this a glorious, an immortal day. When we are in our graves, 
our children will honor it. They will celebrate it with thanks- 
giving, with festivity, with bonfires and illuminations. 

11. On its annual return they will shed tears, copious, gush- 
ing tears, not of subjection and slavery, not of agony and dis- 
tress, but of exultation, of gratitude, and of joy. Sir, before 
God, I believe the hour is come. My judgment approves this 
measure, and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, and all 
that I am, and all that I hope, in this life, I am now ready to 
stake upon it ; and I leave off as I begun, that, live or die, 
survive or perish, I am for the Declaration. It is my living 
sentiment, and, by the blessing of Grod, it shall be my dying 
sentiment, Independence now and Ixdepexdexce forever.* 

* The old State-House, in Philadelphia, where Congress met, is still standing. It is generally 
known by the name of Independence Hall, though the room in which the Declaration of Independence 
was adopted and signed. received at first that appellation. The building was erected in 1735, but its bell- 
tower was not put up until 1750. A bell which was imported from England, expressly for the tower, 
was found cracked upon it* arrival, and thereupon it was recast in the city of Philadelphia, and raised 
to its place in 1753. This is the bell spoken of in the preceding selection as " Independence BelL" 



160 The United States Reader. 



The Declaration of Independence. 

[The Committee appointed by Congress to draw up in proper form a Declaration 
of the Independence of the American colonies, consisted of Thomas Jefferson, John 
Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. The Decla- 
ration adopted was written by Thomas Jefferson.] 

A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, July Mh, 177G. 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary 
for one people to dissolve the political bands which have con- 
nected them with another, and to assume, among the powers 
of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws 
of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to 
the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the 
causes which impel them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are 
created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with 
certain unalienable' rights; that among these are life, liberty, 
and t lie pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, 
governments are instituted among men, deriving their just 
powers from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any 
form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is 
the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute 
a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, 
and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem 
most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, 
indeed, will dictate that governments long established, should 
not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accord- 
ingly, all experience hath- shown, that mankind are more 
disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right 
themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are ac- 
customed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpa- 
tions'', pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design 
to reduce them under absolute despotism', it is their right, it 
is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new 
guards for their future security. Such has been the patient 



American Revolution. 161 

sufferance of these colonies, and such, is now the necessity 
which constrains them to alter their former systems of govern- 
ment. The history of the present king of Great Britain is a 
history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having, in 
direct object, the establishment of an absolute tyranny over 
these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid 
world : 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and 
necessary for the public good.* 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate 
and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation 
till his assent should be obtained; and, when so suspended, he 
has utterly neglected to attend to them.f 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of 
large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish 
the right of representation in the legislature ; a right inesti- 
mable v to them, and formidable to tyrants only. J 

He has called together Legislative bodies at places unusual, 
uncomfortable, and distant from the depository v of their public 
records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance 
with his measures.§ 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for op- 
posing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of 
the people. || 

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to 
cause others to be elected ; whereby the legislative powers, in- 
capable of annihilation^ have returned to the people at large 

* That is, laws passed by the Colonial Assemblies, in relation to commerce, finance, etc. 

+ Some of the Provincial governors endeavored to conciliate the Indian tribes by treaties of al- 
liance and other measures ; but the king, fearing that the colonists would thus acquire too much 
strength, and be less dependent upon the British crown, instructed the governors to desist from all 
such measures till his consent should be given; and failed subsequently to give such consent. 

% In 1774, a bill was passed which took the government of Massachusetts out of the hands of the 
people, vesting the nomination of iudges, etc. in the crown. It also abridged the privilege of popu- 
lar election. The people then demanded the passage of laws for the "accommodation of large districts 
of people,' 1 but were told that they must first " relinquish the right of representation in the legis- 
lature." 

§ This has reference to the passage of the Boston Port Bill, by which the Custom-House, Courts, 
etc., were removed to Salem ; while the public records were kept at Boston. 

\ The Colonial Assembly of Massachusetts, in 1763, invited by circular the other Assemblies to join 
it in opposing the urgent measures of Great Britain, and was dissolved for so doing. Other Assem- 
blies were dissolved for similar reasons, and in the same arbitrary n 



1 62 The United States Reader. 

for their exercise; the state remaining, in the meantime, ex- 
posed to all the danger of invasion from without, and convul- 
sions within.* 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; 
for that purpose, obstructing the laws for the naturalization of 
foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration* 
hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of 
lauds.f 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing 
his assent to laws for establishing judiciary* powers. J 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the ten- 
ure* of their offices, and the amount and payment of their sal- 
aries^ 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither 
swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their sub- 
stance.! 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, 
without the consent of our legislatures.^" 

He has affected to render the military independent of, and 
superior to, the civil power.** 

lie has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction 
foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; 
giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation \\\ 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us ;JJ 

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment, for 

* This was the case in regard to the Assemblies of New York and Massachnsetts, which were dis- 
solved by rural authority, and Dot permitted to re-assemble for several months, the States in the mean- 
time being in great peril of" invasion from without, and convulsions within." 

+ The king dreaded the increasing power of the colonies, as well as the advance of democratic 
ideas in them. The German immigration was especially cheeked by obstacles and discouragements. 

$ By the Act of 1771, Massachusetts was deprived of its own judiciary, the judges being appointed 
by the king. 

§ The salaries of the judges were paid under the royal authority, from moneys obtained from the 
people. 

II The passage of the Stamp Act, and the other similar acts, gave rise to the appointment of 
swarms of tax-collectors, etc. 

r The armies employed in the French and Indian War were continued in the colonies after the 
treaty of 1763. 

** Thus General Gage, a military commander, was made governor of Massachusetts; and the mili- 
tary were employed to enforce the Boston Port Bill. 

tt The Board of Trade was created to act independently of colonial legislation, and almost absolute 
power was conferred on the king. 

tt Large forces were levied and sent over by vote of the English Parliament, to control the inhabi- 
tants. 



America n Revolution. 163 

any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of 

these states ;* 

For cutting otf our trade with all parts of the world ;f 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent;]; 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefit of trial by 

jury;§ 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended 
offences;|| 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighbor- 
ing province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and 
enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example 
and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into 
these colonies ;% 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable 
laws, and altering, fundamentally, the powers of our govern- 
ments ;** 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves 
invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatso- 
ever.ff 

He has abdicated 7 government here, by declaring us out of 
his protection, and waging war against us.Jt 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our 
towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.§§ 

* la 1768, some mariners were tried in Annapolis, Md., for the murder of two citizens, and in the 
face of clear proof of their guilt were acquitted. Similar instances occurred in other places. 

t Such bad been the result of the Navigation Acts. The British navy was also employed to break 
up the colonial trade with the French and Spanish West Indies. 

£ Such as the Stamp duties, the tax on paper, painters' colors, tea, etc. 

§ In trials for violations of the revenue laws, under the Commissioners of Customs, the accused 
were not allowed the benefit of a jury. 

8 Persons charged with riot, resistance to the magistrates, might, by a law passed in 1771, be trans- 
ported to Great Britain or other places, for trial. 

T The law of 1774 (referred to on p. 162), abolished the popular legislature in Canada, and ap- 
pointed royal officers to make laws for the province, except to raise taxes. This gave the British a 
firm hold of Canada, and enabled them to use it to advantage against the colonies during the Revolution: 
hence the efforts of Congress to gain possession of that province in 1775. 

** This was done in the case of the judiciary of Massachusetts, already referred to. Other officers 
besides judges were made dependent on the crown, in opposition to the chartered rights of the people, 
ft After the dissolution of the colonial legislatures, before mentioned, several of the governors pre- 
sumed to legislate arbitrarily for the colonies, giving to their proclamations the force of laws. 

££ The king, in 1775, declared the colonies in open rebellion; and he sanctioned the acts of the 
governors in employing Indian warfare against them. He also employed German mercenaries to war 
against them. In these acts he abdicated the proper functions of government, and placed the colonies 
beyond the pale of his protection. 

§§ These acts were performed by the naval commanders. Charlestown was burned by the British 
fleet. 



164 The Ujiited States Reader. 

He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign mer- 
cenaries v to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyr- 
anny already begun, with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy v 
scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally un- 
worthy the head of a civilized nation.* 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the 
high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the 
executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves 
by their hands. \ 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has 
endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the 
merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an 
undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and condi- 
tions.]; 

In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for 
redress, in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have 
been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose char- 
acter is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, 
is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British breth- 
ren. We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts 
made by their Legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdic- 
tion over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of 
our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their 
native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them, by 
the ties of our common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, 
which would inevitably' interrupt our connections and corre- 
spondence. They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice 
and -consanguinity'. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the ne- 
cessity which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we 
hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace, friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of 

* This is covered, in a general way, in the article already referred to. 

+ The crews of American ships captured by the British, were, by Act of Parliament, treated not 
as prisoners of war, but as daces, and were impressed into the king's service. 

% Dunmore, in Virginia, endeavored to excite the slaves to rise against their masters. The In- 
dians were, under instructions from the British ministry, instigated by several of the colonial gover- 
nors to attack the colonists. Dreadful massacres were the consequence. 



American Revolution. 



i65 



America, in general Congress assembled, appealing to the Su- 
preme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, 
do, in the name and by the authority of the good people of 
these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these United 
Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent 
States ; that they are absolved 7 from all allegiance 7 to the British 
crown, and that all political connection between them and the 
state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ; and 
that, as free and independent States, they have full power to 
levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, 
and to do all other acts and things which independent States 
may of right do. And, for the support of this declaration, with 
a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mu- 
tually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our 
sacred honor. 

The foregoing declaration was, by order of Congress, engrossed, and signed by the 
following members : 

JOHN HANCOCK. 



New Hampshire. 
Josiah Bartlett, 
William Whipple, 
Matthew Thornton. 

Massachusetts Bay. 
Samuel Adams, 
John Adams, 
Robert Treat Paine, 
Elbridge Gerry. 

Rhode Island. 
Stephen Hopkins, 
William Ellery. 

Connecticut. 
Roger Sherman, 
Samuel Huntington, 
William Williams, 
Oliver Wolcott. 

New York. 
William Floyd, 
Philip Livingston, 
Francis Lewis, 
Lewis Morris. 



New Jersey. 
Richard Stockton, 
John Witherspoon, 
Francis Hopkinson, 
John Hart, 
Abraham Clark. 

Pennsylvania. 
Robert Morris, 
Benjamin Rush, 
Benjamin Franklin, 
John Morton, 
George Clymer, 
James Smith, 
George Taylor, 
James Wilson, 
George Ross. 

Delaware. 
Csesar Rodney, 
George Read, 
Thomas M'Kean. 

Maryland. 
Samuel Chase, 
William Paca, 



Thomas Stone, 

Charles Carroll, of Carrollton- 

Virginia. 
George Wythe, 
Richard Henry Lee, 
Thomas Jefferson, 
Benjamin Harrison, 
Thomas Nelson, Jr., 
Francis Lightfoot Lee, 
Carter Braxton. 

North Carolina. 
William Hooper, 
Joseph Hewes, 
John Penn. 

South Carolina. 
Edward Rutledge, 
Thomas Hey ward, Jr., 
Thomas Lynch, Jr., 
Arthur Middleton. 

Georgia. 
Button Gwinnett, 
Lyman.Hall, 
George Walton. 



166 The United States Reader. [1776. 

Debate in Congress on the Declaration. 
Jlo S. Randall. 

1. "The Great Charter" did not pass that body without en- 
countering a fiery ordeal*. The steadiness and force of the 
resistance it encountered, Mr. Jefferson afterwards compared to 
'•the ceaseless action of gravity weighing upon us by night and 
by day." lie did not attempt to say a word for it himself, 
ih inking "it a duty to be on that occasion a passive auditor of 
the opinions of others, more impartial judges than he could be 
of its merits or demerits.* 

2. Hut this passiveness does not appear to have entirely em- 
braced his feelings. Several passages in his writings show that 
he felt with natural sensibility the sharp attack on both the 
matter and form of his intellectual progeny-. In one of these 
lie says: '"During the debate I was sitting by Dr. Franklin, 
and lie observed that I was writhing a little under the acrimo- 
nious'' criticisms of some of its parts ; and it was on that occasion 
that, by way of comfort, he told me the story of John Thomp- 
BOn, the hatter, and his new sign." * 

3. But the calm pulse kept pretty good time! The pocket 
account-book, the meteorological* table, etc., all show that the 
usual precise routine of matters Avas neither overlooked nor 
disturbed during the three days of the galling debate. John 
Adams was the great champion of the Declaration on the floor, 
indulging in none of the milk-and-honey criticisms of his 
Pickering letter (about the "personality" of George III., a 

* Tlie following is the incident, as related by Franklin: " When I was ajourr.e3'man printer, one of 
my companions, an apprentice hatter, having served out his time, was about to open shop himself. 
His first concern was to have a handsome sign-board, with a proper inscription. He composed it in 
these words: 'John Thompson, Hatter, ma fees and sells hits for rendu "lo/ie//, 1 with a figure of a hat 
subjoined; but he thought he would submit it to his friends for their amendments. The first lis 
showed it to, thought the word halter tautologous, because followed by the words ' makes Ante,' which 
showed he was a hatter. It was strue'e out. The next observed that the word 'msb 1 might as well 
be omitted, because his customers would not care who made the hats. If good and to their mind, 
they would buy, by whomsoever made. He struck it out. A third said he thought the words 'for 
ready money* were useless, as it was not the custom of the place to sell on credit. Every one who 
purchased expected to pay. They were parted with, and the inscription now stood, 'John Thompson 
sells hats.' ' Sella hats !' says his next friend; ' why, nobody will expect you to give them away; what 
then is the use of that word V It was stricken out, and ' hats ' followed it, the rather as there was 
one painted on the board. So the inscription was reduced ultimately to ' John Thompson,' with the 
figure ol a hat subjoined." 



1776.] American Revolution. 167 

tyrant etc.), but fighting fearlessly for every word of it — and 
with a power to which a mind masculine and impassioned in 
its conceptions — a will of torrent-like force — a heroism which 
only glared forth more luridly at the approach of danger — and 
a patriotism whose burning throb was rather akin to the feeling 
of a parent fighting over his offspring than to the colder senti- 
ment of tamer minds, lent limitless sway. 

4. The meed of praise to the principal defender comes appro- 
priately from the author of the Declaration. No other pen has 
done, and all other pens have not done, half so much as Jeffer- 
son's, to impress the public mind w r ith the magnitude of John 
Adams's splendid services — with the glorious display of his, in 
some respects, pre-eminent'' abilities, on that memorable occa- 
sion. His written tributes to Mr. Adams are numerous and 
glowing; and that "he was the Colossus in that debate," was 
a tribute he never withheld from him during the sharpest rival- 
ries or ensuing alienations. 

5. Collect all the instances of John Adams's faults and foibles, 
and occasional insanities almost, and grave political errors, to 
be found in truthful record, and then expunge all the memo- 
rials of his great and good deeds and private virtues, except 
from the writings of Jefferson ; and, from the latter alone, the 
reader who has a heart would turn away from the dark strokes of 
the picture, and exclaim, in the language of one of Mr. Jefferson's 
descendants, "Glorious old John Adams." — Life of Jefferson. 

Reading of the Declaration to the Army. 

{Pennsylvania Journal of July 17, 1776.) 

1. This afternoon (July 10) the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence was read at the head of each brigade of the Continental 
Army, posted at and in the vicinity of Xew York. It was 
received everywhere with loud huzzas, and the utmost demon- 
strations of joy; and to-night the equestrian v statue of 
George III., which Tory pride and folly raised in the year 1770, 
has, by the Sons of Freedom, been laid prostrate in the dirt — 
the just desert of an ungrateful tyrant ! 



1 68 The United States Reader. [171-6. 

2. The lead wherewith the monument was made is to be run 
into bullets, to assimilate' with the brains of our infatuated' 
adversaries, who, to gain a pepper-corn, have lost an empire. 
A gentleman who was present at this ominous fall of leaden 
majest} T , looking back to the original's hopeful beginning, perti- 
nently' exclaimed, in the language of the Angel to Lucifer,* 

" If thou beest he ; but, how fallen ! how changed ! " 

3. A few hours before the Declaration was read, the light 
dragoon regiment of Connecticut troops arrived in the city, and 
paraded on horseback through the streets, making a noble and 
martial appearance. Nothing could be more agreeable or ani- 
mating to all the true friends of their country, than the sight of 
this corps, which is composed of the substantial yeomanry of a 
virtuous sister State. Some of them assisted, in their present 
uniforms, at the first reduction of Louisburg; and their "lank, 
lean cheeks and war-worn coats," are viewed with more venera- 
tion by their honest countrymen, than if they were glittering 
nabobs from India, or bashaws* with nine tails. 

Battle of Long Island. — Holmes. 

1. It had early occurred to Washington, that the central 
situation <>f New York, with the numerous advantages attend- 
ing the possession of that city, would render its reduction an 
object of the first importance to the British. Under this im- 
pression, before the enemy evacuated'' Boston, he tiad detached 
General Lee from Cambridge, to put Long Island and Xew York 
into a posture of defense. Soon after the evacuation, he followed, 
and fixed his headquarters in New York, where the greater 
part of the troops rendezvoused'. A part of the residue was 
left in Massachusetts; and about two or three thousand were 
ordered to Canada. 

2. At the opening of the campaign, Congress instituted a 
flying camp, to consist of an intermediate corps, between regu- 
lar soldiers and militia ; and called -for ten thousand men from 
the States of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware, to be in 

* More correctly, of Satan to Beelzebub. See ililtou's " FuruJise Lost," BooJi I. 



17T6.] American Revolution. 169 

constant service to the first day of the ensuing December; and 
for thirteen thousand eight hundred of the common militia 
from Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. 

3. The command of the British force, destined to operate 
against New York, was given to Admiral Lord Howe, and his 
brother, Sir William ; who, in addition to their military pow- 
ers, were appointed commissioners for restoring peace to the 
colonies. General Howe, after waiting two months at Halifax 
for his brother and the expected re-enforcements from England, 
sailed with the force which he had previously commanded in 
Boston ; and, directing his course toward New York, arrived 
on the 25th of June, off Sandy Hook. Admiral Lord Howe, 
with part of the re-enforcements from England, arrived at 
Halifax soon after his brother's departure ; and, without drop- 
ping anchor, followed and joined him on the J2th of July at 
Staten Island. 

4. General Clinton arrived there about the same time, with 
the troops brought back from the expedition against Charles- 
ton, South Carolina; Commodore Hotham also appeared there, 
with the re-enforcement under his escort ; and in a short time 
the army amounted to about twenty-four thousand men, En- 
glish, Hessians, and Waldeckers. The royal commissioners, be- 
fore they commenced military operations, attempted to effect a 
reunion between the Colonies and Great Britain. Lord Howe 
announced his pacific powers to the principal magistrates of the 
several colonies. He promised pardon to all who, in the late 
times, had deviated from their allegiance, on condition of their 
speedily returning to their duty; and, in case of their compli- 
ance, encouraged their expectation of the future favor of the 
sovereign. 

5. In his declaration he observed, " That the commissioners 
were authorized, in his majesty's name, to declare any province, 
colony, county, district, or town, to be at the peace of his ma- 
jesty; and that due consideration should be had to the meri- 
torious services of any who should aid or assist in restoring 
the public tranquillity ; that their dutiful representatives should 
be received, pardons granted, and suitable encouragement to 



i^o The United States Reader. [ittg. 

sucli as would promote the measures of legal government and 
peace; in pursuance of his majesty's most gracious purposes." 
The matter and the form of these pacificatory v proposals were 
too exceptionable to be for a moment seriously regarded. 

(S. The British forces waited so long to receive accessions from 
Halifax, South Carolina, Florida, the West Indies, and Europe, 
that the month of August was far advanced before they were 
in a condition to open the campaign. The first and second 
divisions of German troops, under General I)e Heister, amount- 
ing to about nine thousand, arrived at New York on the 12th of 
August; and one hundred of the English guards joined the 
army of General Howe. The British commanders, having 
resolved to make their first attempt on Long Island, landed 
their troops, estimated at about twenty-four thousand men, at 
Gravesend Bay, to the right of the Narrows. 

7. The Americans, to the number of fifteen thousand, under 
Major-General Sullivan, were posted on a peninsula between 
Mill Creek, a little above Red Hook, and an elbow of East 
River, called Whaaleboght (walla-bout) Bay. Here they had 
erected strong fortifications, which were separated from New 
York by East River, at the distance of a mile. A line of en- 
trenchment from the Mill Creek inclosed a large space of 
ground, on which stood the American camp, near the village 
of Brooklyn. This line was secured by abatis v , and flanked 
by strong redoubts. 

8. The armies were separated by a range of hills, covered 
with a thick wood, which intersect the country from west to 
east, terminating on the east near Jamaica. Through these 
hillfl there were three roads ; one near the Narrows, a second on 
the Elatbush road, and a third on the Bedford road ; and 
these were the only passes from faie south side of the hills to 
the American lines, excepting a road which led to Jamaica, 
round the easterly end of the hills. General Putnam, agree- 
ably to the instructions of General Washington, had detached 
a considerable part of his men to occupy the woody hills and 
passes ; but in the performance of this service there appears to 
have been a deficiency, either of skill or of vigilance. 



1776.] American Revolution. 171 

9. When the whole British army was landed, the Hessians, 
under General De Heister, composed the centre at Flatbush ; 
Major-General Grant commanded the left wing, which extended 
to the coast ; and the principal army, under the command of 
General Clinton, Earl Percy, and Lord Cornwallis, turned 
short to the right, and approached the opposite coast at Flat- 
land. The position of the Americans having been reconnoitred, 
Sir William Howe, from the intelligence given him, determined 
to attempt to turn their left flank. The right wing of his army, 
consisting of a strong advanced corps, commanded by General 
Clinton and supported by the brigades under Lord Percy, 
began, at nine o'clock at night on the 26th of August, to move 
from Flatland; and, passing through the K~ew Lots, arrived on 
the road that crosses the hills from Bedford to Jamaica. 

10. Having taken a patrol, they seized the pass, without 
alarming the Americans. At half after eight in the morning, 
the British troops, having passed the heights and reached Bed- 
ford, began an attack on the left of the American army. In 
the centre, General De Heister, soon after daylight, had begun 
to cannonade v the troops which occupied the direct road to 
Brooklyn, and which were commanded by General Sullivan in 
person. As soon as the firing toward Bedford was heard, De 
Heister advanced and attacked the centre of the Americans, 
who, after a warm engagement, were routed and driven into the 
woods. 

11. The firing toward Bedford giving them the alarming 
notice that the British had turned their left flank, and were 
getting completely into their rear, they endeavored to escape to 
the camp. The sudden rout of this party enabled De Heister 
to detach a part of his force against those who were engaged 
near Bedford. There also the Americans were broken and 
driven into the woods ; and the front of the British column, 
led by General Clinton, continuing to move forward, inter- 
cepted and engaged those whom De Heister had routed, and 
drove them back into the woods. There they again met the 
Hessians, who drove them back on the British. Thus alter- 
nately chased and intercepted, some forced their way through 



172 The United States Reader. [17 76. 

the enemy to the lines at Brooklyn; several saved themselves 
in the coverts of the woods; but a great part of the detach- 
ment was killed or taken. 

12. The left column, led by General Grant, advancing from 
the Narrows along the coast, to divert the attention of the 
Americans from the principal attack oh the right, had about 
midnight fallen in with Lord Stirling's advanced guard, 
stationed at a strong pass, and compelled them to relinquish it. 
As they were slowly retiring, they were met on the summit of 
the hills about break of day by Lord Stirling, who had been 
directed, with the two nearest regiments, to meet the British 
on the road leading from the Narrows. Lord Stirling having 
posted his men advantageously, a fnrions cannonade com- 
menced on both sides, which continued several hours. 

13. The firing toward Brooklyn, where the fugitives were 
pursued by the British, giving notice to Lord Stirling that the 
enemy had gained his rear, he instantly gave orders to retreat 

- a creek near the Yellow Mills. The more effectually to 
secure the retreat of the main body of the detachment, he 
determined to attack in person a British corps under Lord 
Corn wall is, stationed at a house somewhat above the place 
where he proposed to cross the creek. 

14. With about four hundred men, drawn ont of Smallwood's 
regiment for that purpose, he made a very spirited attack, and 
brought up this small corps several times to the charge, with 
confident expectations of dislodging Lord Cornwallis from his 
post. But, the force in his front increasing, and General Grant 
now advancing on his rear, he was compelled to surrender 
himself and his brave men prisoners of war. This bold at- 
tempt, however, gave opportunity to a large part of the detach- 
ment to cross the creek, and effect an escape. 

15. The enemy encamped in front of the American lines; and, 
on the succeeding night, broke ground within six hundred yards 
of a redoubt* on the left. In this critical state of the American 
army on Long Island; in front a numerous and victorious 
enemy, with a formidable train of artillery ; the fleet indicating 
an intention to force a passage into East River to make some 



1776.] American Revolution. 173 

attempt 011 New York ; the troops lying without shelter from 
heavy rains, fatigued and dispirited; it was determined to 
withdraw from the island; and this difficult movement was 
effected with great skill aud judgment, and with complete 
success.* — A nnals of America. 

Hetreat of Washington* — Influenced by his officers, Washington 
retreated to the northern part of New York Island, and then to White Plains. 
Here a partial engagement, to the disadvantage of the Americans, took place on 
the 28th of October, when they withdrew to North Castle. Instead of follow- 
ing, the British general turned his attention to the forts on the Hudson. 

Leaving one detachment, under Lee,t at North Castle, another, under Colonel 
Magaw, at Fort Washington, and a third, under General Heath, \it Peekskill, 
Washington crossed the Hudson and entered New Jersey. On the 16th of 
November, the British attacked Fort Washington, and, although they were 
successful, the victory cost them a thousand men. The loss to the Americans 
in the number of troops surrendered was also very heavy. To the number of 
six thousand, with Lord Comwallis in command, the enemy ci'ossedthe Hudson, 
and took possession of Fort Lee, which the Americans had abandoned on their 
approach. Closely pursued by Cornwallis, Washington retreated through New 
Jersey, and, on the 8th of December, crossed the Delaware with his diminished 
and disheartened army. Congress, then in session at Philadelphia, soon after 
adjourned to Baltimore. 

JJcittle of Trenton. — A feeling of despondency, occasioned by the many 
disasters, prevailed among the patriots. This was dispelled by a bold enterprise 
accomplished by Washington. On Christmas night, he crossed the Delaware, 
and, on the following morning, December 26th, attacked a body of Hessians 
stationed at Trenton. Rahl, their commander, was mortally wounded, about 
thirty were slain, and nearly a thousand taken prisoners. The Americans lost 
only four men, two of whom fell in the battle, and two were frozen to death. 
This victory restored confidence to the Americans, while it startled and mortified 
the British. 

Washington recrossed the Delaware with his prisoners ; but, encouraged by 
his success and finding his army strengthened by recent recruits, he again 
crossed the river, and took post at Trenton, resolved to act on the offensive. 
This was a bold movement, for the enemy were assembled in great force at 
Princeton, only ten miles distant. 

* This retreat was accomplished during a thick fog, about midnight of the 29th. Washington, a3 
far as possible, inspected everything himself. From the commencement of the action on the 27th 
until the troops were safely across the East River, he never closed his eyes, and was almost constantly 
on horseback. His wisdom and vigilance, with the interposing favor of Divine Providence, saved 
the army from destruction. 

t Charles Lee was born in England, in 1731. He was with Braddock in the battle of the Monnn- 
gahela, and with Abercrombie in the assault on Ticonderoga. He afterward served in the Russian 
army. His death occurred at Philadelphia, in 1782. 



1 74 The United States Reader, [1776. 

Events of 1777. — Battle of Princeton. — Washington's whole 
force, on the 1st of January, 1777, did not exceed five thousand men. 
Cornwallis reached Trenton on the following afternoon, and, although baffled, 
with serious loss, in his attempts to cross the stream running through 
the town, felt sure of being able the next morning to capture the entire 
army of the Americans. The position of the latter was critical; but a bold 
expedient was adopted by Washington. Leaving his camp-fires burning, 
so as to deceive Cornwallis, he marched by a circuitous route toward 
Princeton, intending to surprise the enemy at that place. At sunrise, January 
3d, the van of his forces encountered, near Princeton, a division of the British 
troops already on their march to join Cornwallis. At first the American militia 
gave way ; but Washington coming up with a select corps, turned the tide of 
battle and routed the enemy. The loss of the British in killed, wounded, and 
prisoners, was about four hundred men; that of the patriots did not exceed 
thirty, but General Mercer, one of their best officers,* was among the mortally 
wounded. 



Washington at Princeton.— Miss C. F. Orne. 

TriE Assnnpinkf was choked with dead between us and the foe, 

We had mowed their ranks before our guns, as ripe grain is laid low; 

But we were few, and worn and spent — many and strong were they, 

And they waited but the morning dawn to fall upon their prey. 

We left our camp-fires burning, that their ruddy, gleaming light 

Might hide from Lord Cornwallis our hurried march by night. 

While fiery Erekine fretted at his leader's fond delay, 

All silently and swiftly we were marching on our way. 

For the British troops at Princeton our little force was bound, — 

We tracked with bare and bleeding feet the rough and frozen ground; 

All night we hastened onward, and we spoke no word of plaint, 

Though we were chilled with bitter cold, with toil and fasting faint; 

We hailed with joy the sunlight, as o'er the hills it streamed, 

And through the sharp and frosty air on the near homesteads beamed. 

We were weary, we were hungry ; before us lay good cheer, 

And right gladly to the hearth-fires our eager steps drew near. 

But sudden, on our startled sight, long lines of bayonets flash ; 

The road's aglow with scarlet coats ! The British on us dash ! 



* Hugh Mercer was bom in Scotland about 1720. He studied medicine, became a physician, and 
was a surgeon's assistant in the Scotch army in the battle of Culloden (1746). Emigrating to 
America, he resided in Virginia until 1755, when he joined Braddock's expedition, and was severely 
wounded at the battle of the Monongahela. His funeral, which took place in Philadelphia, was 
attended by 30,000 persons. 

t The name of the stream running through the city of Trenton. 



1776.3 American Revolution. 175 

The smoke-wreaths from our volle}'s meet ; then hand-to-hand the fight ; 
Proud, gallant Mercer falls ; our lines are wavering in flight! 
" Press on ! " cries Mawhood, " by St. George ! the rebel cowards fry, 
We'll sweep their ranks before our charge, as storm-winds\sweep the sky." 

They burst with bold and sudden spring as a lion on the prey, 

Our ranks of worn and weary men to that fierce rush gave way. 

Black was that bitter moment, and well-nigh all was lost, 

But forth there sprang a god-like form between us and the host. 

The martyr-fires of freedom in his flaming glances burned, 

As his awful countenance sublime upon the foe he turned; 

And, reining up his gallant steed, alone amid the fight, 

Like an angel of the Lord he stood to our astonished sight ! 

And instantly our wavering bands wheeled into line again, 

And suddenly from either side the death-shots fell like rain. 

All hearts stood still, and horror-struck was each averted eye ; 

For who could brook that moment's look, or who could see Mm die ? 

But when the smoke-clouds lifted, and still we saw him there, 

Oh, what a mighty shout of joy filled all the startled air ! 

And tears fell like the summer showers from our bravest and our best, 

As dashing up with fiery pace around him close the}' prest. 

A moment's hand-grasp to his Aid, that told the tale of hours, 

" Away ! bring up the troops," he cried, " the day is wholly ours." 

" Now, praised be God ! " from grateful lips the fervent prayer uprose, 

And then, as with an eagle's swoop, we burst upon our foes. 

And " Long live Washington !" we cried, in answer to his shout, 

As still he spurred his charger on amid the flying rout. 

They broke their ranks before our charge ; amain they wildly fled ; 

Stiff on the slopes, at Princeton, they left their hapless dead. 

No more a band of weary men, we followed in his track, 

And bore, with stern, resistless force, the British lion back. 

Our toilsome march, our sleepless nights, cold, hunger — what were they ? 

We broke the yoke of foreign power on that eventful day. 

The great heart of our leader went on before us then, 

And led us forth to wield the strength of more than mortal men ; 

The pulses of that noble hearty nation's life concealed, 

But fate refused the sacrifice whose offer won the field. 

C. C Raven's Historic Manual. 

Arrival of Lafayette.— Early in 1776, Congress sent Silas Deane to 
France to solicit aid. Deane was afterwards joined by Dr. Franklin and Arthur 
Lee. Though France hesitated to extend the aid solicited, the Marquis de 
8* 



176 The United States Redder. [1776. 

Lafayette {lah-fd-ett'f- and other citizens of that country acted generously. At 
his own expense, Lafayette fitted out a vessel, and, in the spring of 1777, 
arrived in America. He joined the army as a volunteer without pay, but was 
soon after appointed a major-general. 

First Anniversary of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. 

[As celebrated in Philadelphia, July 4th, 1777. This account is extracted from the 
Pennsylvania Journal, one of the newspapers of the time.] 

1. (July 5.) — Yesterday, being the first anniversary of the 
Independence of the United States of America, was celebrated 
in Philadelphia with demonstrations of joy and festivity. 
About noon all the armed ships and galleys in the river were 
drawn up before fche city, dressed in the gayest manner, with 
the colors of fche United States and streamers displayed. 
At one o'clock, the yards being properly manned, they began 
the celebration of fche day by a discharge of thirteen cannon 
from each of the ship-, and one from each of the thirteen gal- 
leys, in honor of the thirteen United States. 

2. In tiie afternoon an elegant dinner was provided for Con- 
gress, to which were invited the President and the supreme 
executive council, the speaker of the Assembly of the State, 
the general officers and colonels of the army, and strangers of 
eminence, and the members of the several continental boards 
in town. The Hessian band of music, taken in Trenton the 
twenty-sixth of December last, attended and heightened the 
festivity with some fine performances suited to the joyous oc- 
casion ; while a corps of British deserters, taken into the 
service of the continent by the State of Georgia, being drawn 
up before the door, filled up the intervals with /<??/# dejoic v . 

3. After dinner, a number of toasts were drank, all breathing 
Independence and a generous love of liberty, and commemo- 
rating the memories of those brave* and worthy patriots who 
gallantly exposed their lives, and fell gloriously in defense of 
freedom and the righteous cause of their country. Each toast 

* The Marquis de Lafayette was born in France, of an ancient and distinguished family, in 1757. 
He was in the battles of Brandywine, Monmouth, and Yorktown, and was a member of the court that 
tried Andre as a spy. He died in Paris, in 1834. 



1776. American Revolution. i/7 

was followed by a discharge of artillery and small-arms, and a 
suitable piece of music by the Hessian band. 

-i. The glorious Fourth of July was reiterated three times, 
accompanied with triple discharges of cannon and small-arms, 
and lond huzzas that resounded from street to street through 
the city. Toward evening, several troops of horse, a corps of 
artillery, and a brigade of IS'orth Carolina forces, which was in 
town on its way to join the grand army, were drawn up in 
Second Street, and reviewed by Congress and the general 
officers. 

5. The evening was closed with the ringing of bells, and at 
night there was a grand exhibition of fireworks (which began 
and concluded with thirteen rockets) on the commons; and the 
city was beautifully illuminated. Everything was conducted 
with the greatest order and decorum, and the face of joy and 
gladness was universal. 

Thus may the Fourth of July, that glorious and ever memo- 
rable day, be celebrated through America by the sons of freedom 
from age to age, till time shall be no more. Amen and Amen! 

~Battle of Brandi/wine, etc. — "Washington's array was encamped at 
Morristown during the early part of 1777 ; but in the spring he took up a 
position at Middlebrook. General Howe, failing to draw Washington into an 
engagement in New Jersey, conveyed his troops, by means of the fleet of his 
brother, Lord Howe, to Chesapeake Bay, at the head of which they disembarked* 
and marched toward Philadelphia. At Chad's Ford, on Brandywine Creek, 
their passage was disputed by "Washington ; but the latter was defeated with 
considerable loss (Sept. 11). Two weeks afterward, Philadelphia fell into the 
hands of the British. 

Battle of Germantowil, etc. — Learning that strong detachments of 
the British army had been dispatched for the reduction of Ports Mifflin and 
Mercer, on the Delaware, a few miles below Philadelphia, Washington made a 
vigorous attack upon the main body of the British, stationed at Germantown ; 
but, although at first successful, he was finally repulsed (Oct. 4). Ports Mifflin 
and Mercer were soon afterwards captured by the British, though not without a 
contest in which they met with severe loss (Nov.). 

Burgoy ne 9 S Expedition.— In the meantime, General Burgoyne, with 
an army of ten thousand men, British and German troops, Canadians and In- 
dians, invaded the State of New York from Canada, with the design of effecting 
a junction with another army from the city of New York, so as to cut off 



178 The United States Reader. [iwr. 

Washington's communication with the eastern States. At first, Burgoync met 
with some success, capturing Ticonderoga, and compelling the American forces 
to retreat to the Mohawk ; but a detachment of his army having been defeated 
at Bennington (August 16), the Americans, under General Gales,- advanced to 
Bem'is Heights, where a severe battle was fought, by which Burgoyne found his 
march to Albany effectually checked (Sept. 19). 

A few weeks afterwards, a second battle occurred near the scene of the pre- 
vious one, and the British were driven back (Oct. 7). In this battle, called the 
Battle of Saratoga, Benedict Arnold, who afterwards turned traitor, greatly dis- 
tinguished himself. It was soon followed by the surrender of Burgoynef to 
General Gates, at Saratoga (Oct. 17). Clinton, in the meantime, had ascended 
the Hudson as far as Forts Clinton and Montgomery, and captured both forts; 
but instead of hastening to the co-operation of Burgoyne, he sent an expedition 
to devastate the country. The British, on the northern frontiers, upon hearing 
of their disaster at Saratoga, abandoned Ticonderoga and other places; and 
Clinton's expedition, after burning Kingston, returned to New York. 

Surrender of Burgoyne. — Be Chastellux. 

1. Let us now compare the situation of General Burgoyne 
collecting his trophies and publishing his insolent manifesto' 
at Ticonderoga, with that in which he now stood, when, van- 
quished and surrounded, as he was, by a troop of peasants, not 
a place was left him even to discuss the terms of supplication. 

2. I confess, when I was conducted to the spot where the 
English laid down their arms, and to that where they filed off 
before Gates's army, I could not but partake of the triumph of 
the Americans, and at the same time admire their magna- 
nimity; for the soldiers and officers beheld their presumptuous 
and sanguinary enemies pass, without offering the smallest 
insult, without suffering an insulting smile or gesture to escape 
them. 

3. This majestic silence conveyed a very striking refutation 
of the vain declarations of the English general, and seemed to 
attest all the rights of our allies to the victory. Chance alone 

* Horatio Gates was born in England, in 1728. lie was an officer in Braddock's expedition, in 1755, 
and was severely wounded in the battle of the Monongahela. After the Revolutionary War, he resided 
pn an estate which he owned in Virginia, until 1790. He then removed to New York, where he died 
in 1806. 

t John Burgoyne was born in England, about 1730. After his surrender to Gates he returned to 
England, being then a prisoner on parole, where he was coldly received in Parliament, of which body 
he was a member. He died in London, in 1792. 



1777.] American Revolution. 179 

gave rise to an allusion with which General Burgoyne was very 
sensibly affected. It is the custom, in England and in America, 
on approaching any person for the first time, to say, / am very 
happy to see you; General Gates chanced to make use of this 
expression in accosting General Burgoyne. "I believe you 
are," replied the General ; " the fortune of the day is entirely 
yours." 

4. General Gates pretended to give no attention to this 
answer, and conducted Burgoyne to his quarters, where he 
gave him a good dinner, as well as to the principal of the En- 
glish officers. Everybody ate and drank heartily, and seemed 
mutually to forget their misfortunes, or their successes. — Jour- 
nal of Travels in North America. 

Washington at Valley Forge. — Tit. Parker. 

1. Dtjki^g the winter of 1777-8, Washington went into win- 
ter quarters at Valley Forge. What a terrible time it was for 
the hopes of America! In 1776, he had an army of forty- 
seven thousand men, and the nation was exhausted by the 
great effort. In 1777, it was less than twenty thousand men. 
Women who had once melted their pewter plates into bullets, 
could not do it a second time. 

2. At Valley Forge, within a day's march of the enemy's 
headquarters, there were not twelve thousand soldiers. That 
winter they lay on the ground. So scarce were blankets, 
that many were forced to sit up all night by their fires. At 
one time, more than a thousand soldiers had not a shoe to 
their feet. You could trace their march by the blood which 
their naked feet left in the ice. At one time, more than one- 
fourth of all the troops there are reported as " unfit for duty, 
because barefoot or otherwise naked." Washington offered a 
prize for the best substitute for shoes made of un tanned hides! 

3. Even provisions failed. Once there was a famine in the 
camp, and Washington must seize provisions by violence, or 
the army would die. He ordered the Pennsylvania farmers to 
thresh out the wheat and sell it to him, or he would take it 
and pay them only for the straw. Congress was disheartened. 



i So The United States Reader. [itvt. 

The men of ability staid at home, and weaklings took their 
place. For some time there were only twenty-one members, 
and it was difficult to assemble a quorum of States for busi- 
ness. 

4. Tories abounded. There were cabals against Washington 
in the army. Mifflin, Conway, Gates, Pickering, Schuyler, 
were hostile ; and they found abundant support in Congress. 
Samuel Adams* distrusted Washington. So, too, did John 
Adams. James Lovell, of Massachusetts, and Richard Henry 
Lee, of Virginia, were not more friendly, and far less honorable. 
It is not wholly to be wondered at. 

5. Within a year, Washington had lost New York and its 
neighborhood — lost Philadelphia and all the strongholds around 
it. He had gained but one victory worth naming — that at 
Trenton. In the meantime, Burgoyne, an able soldier, with an 
admirable army, had walked into a trap on the North River, 
and had been taken by Gates and the northern army, who 
were most of them militia of New England. It is not won- 
derful that men doubted, and thought that the selfish, mean- 
spirited, and Loud-talking General Conway would do better than 
the modest Washington to command the army. 

6. Samuel Adams wanted democratic rotation in office, that 
the general should be hired by the year! If he had not been 

-sed of great wealth, and cared for nothing, I think 
Washington's command had come to an end before 1778. But 
Dr. Franklin was on the other side of the sea; and, with con- 
summate art, he had induced the French court to favor Amer- 
ica with contributions of money and of arms, and, after the 
surrender of Burgoyne, to acknowledge the independence of 
the United States, and to make an open treaty of alliance, fur- 
nishing America with money and men, artillery and stores. 
Then, first, America began to uplift her drooping head. — His- 
toric Americans. 

* Samuel Adams was born in Boston, in 1722. He and John Adams were related, having the same 
great-grandfather, making them second cousins. lie was one of the signers of the Declaration of In- 
dependence. Uis death occurred in Boston, in 1803. 



1777.] American Revolution. .iSi 

Life at Valley Forge.— Geo. W. Greene. 

1. But even Valley Forge had its recreations. " Several gen- 
eral officers are sending for their wives," writes Lafayette to his 
own, " and I envy them, not their wives, but the happiness of 
being where they can see them." Mrs. Greene (wife of General 
Greene) had joined her husband early in January, bringing 
with her her summer's acquisition, a stock of French, that 
quickly made her little parlor the favorite resort of foreign 
officers. 

2. There was often to be seen Lafayette, not yet turned of 
twenty-one, though a husband, a father, and a major-general ; 
graver somewhat in his manners than strictly belonged either 
to his years or his country; and loved and trusted by all 
— by Washington and Greene especially. Steuben, too, was 
often there, wearing his republican uniform, as, fifteen years 
before, he had worn the uniform of the despotic Frederick ; as 
deeply skilled in the ceremonials v of a court as in the manoeu- 
vring of an army ; with a glittering star on his left breast, that 
bore witness to the faithful service he had rendered in his 
native Germany ; and revolving in his accurate mind designs 
which were to transform this mass of physical strength, which 
Americans had dignified with the name of army, into a real 
army, which Frederick himself might have accepted. 

8. He had but little English at his command, as yet ; but at 
his side there was a mercuriar" young Frenchman, Peter Dupon- 
ceau {du-pong* 'so), who knew how to interpret both his graver 
thoughts and the lighter gallantries with which the genial old 
soldier loved to season his intercourse with the wives and 
daughters of his new fellow-citizens. As the years passed, 
away, Duponceau himself became a celebrated man, and loved 
to tell the story of these checkered days. 

4. Another German, too, De Kalb, was sometimes seen there ; 
taller, statelier, graver than Steuben, with the cold, observant 
eye of the diplomatist, rather than the quick glance of the 
soldier ; though a soldier, too, and a brave and skillful one ; 
caring very little about the cause he had forsaken his noble 



1 82 The United States Reader. \xvrt. 

chateau* and lovely wife to fight for, but a great deal about the 
promotion and decorations which his good service here was to 
win him in France ; for he had made himself a Frenchman, and 
served the King of France, and bought him French lands, and 
married a French wife. 

5. Already before this war began, he had come hither in the 
service of France to study the progress of the growing discon- 
tent; and now he was here again, an American major-general, 
led partly by the ambition of rank, partly by the thirst of dis- 
tinction, but much, too, by a certain restlessness of nature and 
Longing for excitement and action, not to be wondered at in 
one who had fought his way up from a butlership to a barony v . 

6. He and Steuben had served on opposite sides during the 
Seven Years' War, though born, both of them, on the same 
hank of the Rhine; and though, when Steuben first came, 
De Kalb was at Albany, yet in May they must have met more 
til an once. How did they feel toward each other, the soldier 
of Frederick and the soldier of Louis? If we had known more 
about this, we should have known better, perhaps, why Lafay- 
ette, a fast friend of De Kalb, speaks of the "methodic medio- 
crity" of Steuben, and Steuben of the " vanity and presump- 
tion " of the young major-general. 

7. [Many other foreign officers of present or subsequent 
distinction were also in the same circle.] Kosciusko* was in 
the north, but Poland had still another representative, — the 
gallant Pulaski, who had done good service during the last 
campaign, and who, the very next year, was to lay down his 
life for us at the siege of Savannah. 

8. Washington, too, and his wife were often seen in this 
evening circle, — not the grave, cold Washington of some books, 
but a human being, who knew how to laugh heartily and smile 
genially; and the courtly Morris and the brilliant Reed were 
there ; and Charles Carroll, who was to outlive them nearly all ; 
and Knox, whom Greene loved as a brother; and Hamilton and 

* Thsiddeus Kosciusko, a Polish patriot, was born about 1755. He was with Gates in the two 
battles of Stillwater, and subsequently distinguished himself as an adjutant of Washington. His 
death, which occurred in Switzerland, in 1817, was caused by a fall from his horse over a'precipio*. , 



1777.] American Revolution. 183 

Laurens, as often as their duty would permit; and Wayne, and 
Yarnum, and Sullivan, and many others of whom history tells, 
with some of whom she has kept no record ; all equally glad to 
escape, for a while, from stern duties and grave cares, to a 
cheerful fireside and genial conversation. 

9. There was no room for dancing in these narrow quarters ; 
but next winter, at Morristown, we shall find a good deal of it, 
and see Washington dancing four hours with Mrs. Greene 
without once sitting down. There were no cards, either. All 
games of chance had been prohibited early in the war ; and 
American officers, even if they had had the means and inclina- 
tion, had no opportunity to ruin themselves, as the officers of 
Howe's army were ruining themselves at Philadelphia this very 
winter. 

10. But there was tea or coffee, and pleasant conversation 
always, and music often, no one who had a good voice being 
allowed to refuse a song. Few could give more interest to a 
story, or life to an anecdote, than Mrs. Greene, and no one in 
those evening circles could excel her in adapting her subject 
and manner to the taste and manner of the immediate listener. 
And thus, again, somewhat of the gentleness of domestic life 
was shed over these stern scenes of war, and somewhat of its 
cheerfulness brought into these narrow dwellings; of them- 
selves " no gayer," writes Lafa)~ette, " than a dungeon." 

11. Out of doors, all was more like a dungeon still; for the 
bleak hills shut them in on one side, the frozen river on the 
other. Out of the cold, white snow rose the leafless forest, 
dark and spectral; and the wind swept in fierce gusts down 
the valley, or sighed and moaned around the thatched roofs of 
the huts. From the huts themselves came few signs of life, 
but the smoke that swayed to and fro over the chimneys at the 
will of the blast, and the shivering sentinels at the officers' 
doors, and now and then, as you passed along, a half-naked 
soldier peering from a door, and muttering, in an ominous 
undertone, " No bread, no soldier." 

12. If you ventured within, hungry nakedness met you on 
the threshold, or a foul and diseased air repelled you from it 



184 The United States Reader. [1778. 

In the streets, you would meet parties of soldiers yoked together 
to little carriages of their own contriving, and dragging their 
wood and provisions from the storehouse to their huts. There 
were regular parades, too, at guard-mounting; and sometimes 
grand parades, in. which you would see men half naked holding 
their rusty firelocks with hands stiffened with cold, and officers 
shielding themselves from the cold in a kind of dressing-gown 
made out of an old blanket or faded bed-quilt. — Life of Xa- 
l ha n id Greene. 

Events of J77S.— Alliance with France.— The success of the 
Americans at Saratoga decided the negotiations which had been set on foot in 
1 77<). France acknowledged the independence of the United States, and, mainly 
through the efforts of Dr. Franklin, an alliance was concluded between the two 
nations. The French government at once fitted out a squadron, of which 
Count D'Estuing [des-tang')* was given the command, and, about the middle 
of April, the fleet sailed for America. 

Evacuation Of Philadelphia, — In the meantime, Gen. Howe having 
resigned his command, Gen. Clinton was appointed bis successor ; and the 
British government, fearing for the safety of their army at Philadelphia, ordered 
Clinton to proceed to New York. In July D'Estaing arrived in Delaware Bay, 
but not in time to capture the British fleet, as Lord Howe had sailed a few days 
before. On the 18th of June, Clinton evacuated Philadelphia, and commenced 
his march through New Jersey to New York. The Americans gave pursuit; 
and at Mon'mouth, on the 28th, a severely contested battle was fought. 

Battle of Monmouth. — Irving. 

1. EARLY in the morning, Washington received an express 
from Dickinson, informing him that the enemy were in mo- 
tion. He instantly sent orders to Lee to push forward and 
attack them, unless there should be powerful reasons to the 
contrary, adding, that he was coming on to support him. For 
that purpose he immediately set forward with his own troops, 
ordering them to throw by their knapsacks and blankets. 

2. Knyphausen, with the British vanguard, had begun about 
daybreak to descend into the valley between Monmouth Court 
House and Middletown. To give the long train of wagons 
and pack-horses time to get well on the way, Sir Henry Clinton, 

* Charles Hector, Count D'Estaing, was a native of France, born in 1729. He wag a member of tho 
Assembly of Notables in the Freuch Revolution, but, falling under tie suspicion of the Terrorists, 
was guillotined in 1794. 



1T7 8.] American Revolution. i85 

with his choice troops, remained in camp on the heights of 
Freehold until eight o'clock, when he likewise resumed the 
line of march toward Middletown. 

3. In the mean time Lee, on hearing of the early movement 
of the enemy, had advanced with the brigades of Wayne and 
Maxwell, to support the light troops engaged in skirmishing. 
The difficulty of reconnoitering a country cut up by woods and 
morasses, and the perplexity occasioned by contradictory reports, 
embarrassed his movements. Being joined by Lafayette, with 
the main body of the advance, he had now about four thousand 
men at his command, independent of those under Morgan and 
General Dickinson. 

4. Arriving on the heights of Freehold, and riding forward 
with General Wayne to an open place to reconnoitre, Lee 
caught sight of a force under march, but partly hidden from 
view by intervening woods. Supposing it to be a mere cover- 
ing party of about two thousand men, he detached Wayne with 
seven hundred men and two pieces of artillery, to skirmish in 
its rear and hold it in check ; while he, with the rest of his 
force, taking a shorter road through the woods, would get in 
front of it, and cut it off from the main body. He at the 
same time sent a message to Washington, apprising him of this 
movement and of his certainty of success. 

5. Washington, in the mean time, was on his march with 
the main body, to support the advance, as he had promised. 
The booming of cannon at a distance indicated that the attack 
so much desired had commenced, and caused him to quicken 
his march. Arrived near Freehold church, where the road 
forked, he detached Greene with part of his forces to the right, 
to flank the enemy in the rear of Monmouth Court-House, 
while he, with the rest of the column, would press forward by 
the other road. 

6. Washington had alighted while giving these directions, 
and was standing with his arm thrown over his horse, when a 
countryman rode up, and said the Continental troops were re- 
treating. Washington was provoked at what he considered a 
false alarm. The man pointed, as his authority, to an Ameri- 



1 86 The United States Reader. [1718, 

can fifer, who just then came up in breathless affright. The 
fifer was ordered into custody to prevent his spreading an alarm 
among the troops who were advancing, and Avas threatened with 
a flogging should he repeat the story. 

7. Springing on his horse, Washington had moved forward 
1 hi t a short distance when he met other fugitives, one in the garb 
of a soldier, who all concurred in the report. He now sent 
forward Colonels Fitzgerald and Harrison, to learn the truth, 
while he himself spurred past Freehold meeting-house. Be- 
fcween that ediiice and the morass beyond it, he met Grayson's 
and Patton's regiments in most disorderly retreat, jaded with 
heat and fatigue. Riding up to the officer at their head 
Washington demanded whether the whole advance corps were 
retreating. The officer believed they were. 

8. It seemed incredible. There had been scarce any firing; 
Washington had received no notice of the retreat from Lee. 
He was still almost inclined to doubt, when the heads of several 
columns of the advance began to appear. It was too evident — 
the whole advance was falling back on the main body, and no 
notice had been given to him. One of the first officers that 
came up was Colonel Shreve, at the head of his regiment; 
Washington, greatly surprised and alarmed, asked the meaning 
of this retreat. The colonel smiled significantly — he did not 
know — he had retreated by order. There had been no fighting 
excepting a slight skirmish with the enemy's cavalry, which 
had been repulsed. 

9. A suspicion flashed across Washington's mind, of wrong- 
headed conduct on the part of Lee, to mar the plan of attack 
adopted contrary to his counsels. Ordering Colonel Shreve to 
march his men over the morass, halt them on the hill beyond 
and refresh them, he galloped forward to stop the retreat of the 
rest of the advance, his indignation kindling as he rode. At 
the rear of the regiment he met Major Howard; he, too, 
could give no reason for the retreat, but seemed provoked at 
it — declaring that he had never seen the like. Another 
officer exclaimed, with an oath, that they were flying from a 
shadow. 



17 78.] American Revolution. 187 

10. Arriving at a rising ground, Washington beheld Lee ap- 
proaching with the residue of his command, in full retreat. By 
this time he was thoroughly exasperated. "What is the mean- 
ing of all this, sir?" demanded he, in the sternest and even 
fiercest tone, as Lee rode up to him. Lee for a moment was dis- 
concerted, and hesitated, in making a reply, for Washington's 
aspect, according to Lafayette, was terrible. "I desire to know 
the meaning of this disorder and confusion," was again de- 
manded, still more vehemently. 

11. Lee, stung by the manner more than the words of the 
demand, made an angry reply, and provoked still sharper 
expressions, which have been variously reported. He attempted 
a hurried explanation. His troops had been thrown into con- 
fusion by contradictory intelligence; by disobedience of orders ; 
by the meddling and blundering of individuals; and he had 
not felt disposed, he said, to beard the whole British army with 
troops in such a situation. 

12. "I have certain information," rejoined Washington, 
"that it was* merely a covering party." 

" That may be, but it was stronger than mine, and I did not 
think proper to run such a risk." 

" I am very sorry," replied Washington, " that you under- 
took the command, unless you meant to fight the enemy." 

" I did not think it prudent to bring on a general engage- 
ment." 

" Whatever your opinion may have been," replied Washing- 
ton, disdainfully, " I expected my orders would have been 
obeyed." 

13. This all passed rapidly, and, as it were, in flashes; for 
there was no time for parley. The enemy were within a quarter 
of an hour's march. Washington's appearance had stopped the 
retreat. The fortunes of the day were to be retrieved, if pos- 
sible, by instant arrangements. These he proceeded to make 
with great celerity. The place was favorable for a stand ; it 
was a rising ground, to which the enemy could approach only 
over a narrow causeway. The rallied troops were hastily formed 
upon this eminence. Colonels Stewart and Ramsey, with two 



1 88 The United States Reader. [1778. 

batteries, were stationed in a covert of woods on their left, to 
protect them and keep the enemy at bay. Colonel Oswald was 
posted for the same purpose on a height, with two field-pieces. 
The promptness with which everything was doue showed the 
effects of the Baron Steuben's discipline 

14. A warm cannonade by Oswald, Stewart, and Ramsey, had 
the desired effect. The enemy were brought to a stand, and 
Washington had time to gallop back and bring on the main 
body. This he formed on an eminence, with »a wood in the 
rear and the morass in front. The left wing was commanded 
by Lord Stirling, who had with him a detachment of artillery 
and several field-pieces: (xeneral Greene was on his right. 

15. Lee had maintained his advanced position with great 
spirit, but was at length obliged to retire. He brought off his 
troops in good order, across a causeway which traversed the 
morass in front of Lord Stirling. As he had promised, he was 
the last to leave the ground. Having formed his men in aline, 
beyond the morass, he rode up to Washington. "Here, sir, are 
my troops," said he ; " how is it your pleasure I should dispose 
of them?" Washington saw that the poor fellows were ex- 
hausted by marching, countermarching, hard fighting, and the 
intolerable heat of the weather: he ordered Lee, therefore, to 
repair with them to the rear of Englishtown, and to assemble 
there all the scattered fugitives he might meet with 

16. The enemy at length gave way, and fell back to the 
ground which Lee had occupied in the morning. Here their 
flanks were secured by woods and morasses, and their front 
could only be approached across a narrow causeway. Not- 
withstanding the difficulties of the position, Washington 
prepared to attack it; ordering General Poor, with his own 
and the Carolina brigade, to move round upon their right, and 
General Woodford on their left ; while the artillery should gall 
them in front. 

17. Before these orders could be carried into effect, the day 
was at an end. Many of the soldiers had sunk upon the 
ground, overcome by fatigue and the heat of the weather; 
all needed repose. The troops, therefore, which had been in 



177S.] American Revolution. 1S9 

the advance, were ordered to lie on their arms on the ground 
they occupied, so as to be ready to make the attack by day- 
break. The main army did the same, on the field of action, 
to be at hand to support them. Washington lay on his 
cloak at the foot of a tree, with Lafayette beside him, talking- 
over the strange conduct of Lee; whose disorderly retreat had 
come so near being fatal to the army. — Life of Washington. 

Result of the JBattle. — During the night, Clinton silently retreated, 
leaving in his deserted camp only a few wounded officers and privates, whom 
he was unahle to'carry with him on his hurried march. At daybreak his army 
was beyond pursuit. The loss of the British in the battle and by desertions 
during the march, amounted to fifteen hundred men. The patriots lost more 
than two hundred, many of whom fell from the excessive heat and fatigue of 
the day. 

End of Lee's Center. — Lee's pride having been wounded by the 
rebuke which he had received, he addressed two disrespectful letters to Wash- 
ington. For this disrespect and his conduct on the battle-field, he was tried by 
a court-martial, found guilty, and sentenced to be suspended from command 
for one year. He, however, never rejoined the army, but, just before the close 
of the war, died in Philadelphia. 

Attack on Rhode Island, — A combined attack by D'Estaing and 
Gen. Sullivan was planned for the expulsion of the British from Rhode Island, 
where, under Gen. Pig'ot, they had established a military depot. Tempted by 
the hope of. a victory, D'Estaing sailed from Newport to meet Lord Howe, who 
had heard of Bigot's danger and hastened to his relief} but a furious storm 
having disabled the two fleets just as they were about to engage, he returned to 
Newport, and soon after departed for Boston, to repair his ships. 

Sullivan, finding himself thus deserted, withdrew to the northern part of the 
island ; and, being followed by the enemy, an engagement took place, August 
29th, resulting in a loss of over two hundred on each side, and in the repulse, 
of the British. Learning that a fleet with troops was coming to the aid of 
Pigot, Sullivan gained the mainland just in time to avoid being intercepted by 
Clinton. 

Massacre of Wyoming, — EarTy in July, a large force of tories and 
Indians, under Col. John Butler, entered the valley of Wy-o'ming, Pennsyl- 
vania, spread desolation in every direction, and slaughtered a body of in- 
habitants who had marched against them. In November, a party of the same 
mixed character fell upon the settlement of Cherry Valley, New York, and 
killed or carried into captivity many of the settlers. 

Capture of Savannah. — Toward the close of the year, Clinton sent 
an expedition of two thousand men to invade Georgia. Col. Campbell, its 
commander, proceeded against Savannah, then defended by a small force under 



190 The United States Reader. [1779. 

Gen. Hubert Howe, and, on the 29th of December, made an attack. Tbe 
Americans were defeated with great loss, and, in consequence, Savannah fell 
into the hands of the British, and was retained by them till 1783. 

Events of 1770 —lie-capture of Stony Point,— -Washington, 
desiring to re-eaptnre Stony Point, New York, which had been taken a short 
time previously, planned an attack to be conducted by Wayne.* At midnight, 
on the 15th of July, the Americans, in two columns, forced their way into the 
fort from opposite sides, and, meeting in the centre of the works, the garrison 
surrendered at discretion. The entire loss of the patriots in this brilliant suc- 
cess, achieved at the point of the bayonet and without firing a gun, was 
fifteen killed and eighty-three wounded. The enemy lost upward of six hun- 
dred in killed and prisoners. 

Battle Of Chemung, — Sullivan, who had been sent against the Indians 
of western New York, to check their depredations and avenge the "Massacre 
of Wyoming," was completely successful, lie defeated a body of Indians and 
tones in the battle of Chemung (she-mung 1 ), August 29th, and then destroyed 
forty Indian villages, and a vast amount of corn. 

run I Jones's Victory, — In September an obstinate engagement took 
place oil' the eastern toast of England, between a small squadron of French 
and American vessels, commanded by Paul Jones,t and two British frigates. 
It lasted from seven till after ten at night, when both frigates surrendered. 

Paul Jones's Naval Battle. — Parton. 

1. First Hour. — Commodore Jones, finding that ho had an 
enemy of superior force on his hands, used all his art to gain 
an advantage over the Serapia (the British vessel) in point of 
position, so as to rake her. But Captain Pearson of the Serapis 
being as good a sailor as himself, and having a better ship and 
a better-trained crew, not only balked this design, but gave the 
Bun Homme Richard (Jones's ship) some raking fires. Jones 
soon saw that his only chance for an equal fight was to close 
with his adversary, and fight it out, muzzle to muzzle and 
hand to hand. 

2. His first attempt to close failed, from the defective training 
of his crew, his Malays understanding neither English nor 



* Anthony Wayne was born at Waynesborough, Chester County, Pennsylvania, in 1745. In 1794, 
daring Washington's administration, he defeated the Indians in the battle of the Mauniee, Ohio. 
During the Revolution he was known as "Mad Anthony." He died at Presque Isle, now Erie, 
in 1796, while on his way from the west. 

t John Paul Jones was born in Scotland, in 1747. When the American Revolution broke out he 
was in Virginia. Dr. Franklin aided him in France to fit out the fleet. His name was John Paul, to 
which, for some unknown reason, he added Jones. After the Revolution he entered the Russian 
naval service. He died at Paris, in poverty and neglect, in 1792. 



17-79.] American Revolution. 191 

navigation. He ran his bowsprit on board the Serapis, but in 
such a manner that he could not bring a gun to bear. 

" Have you struck ? "■ shouted an officer on board the English 
ship. 

" I have not begun to fight/' replied Commodore Jones. 

He backed off; but the Serapis, wearing round "upon her 
heel/' ran her jib-boom into the mizzen rigging of the Bon 
Homme Richard. 

3. Jones instantly lashed the bowsprit of the enemy to his 
own mizzen-mast ; and, in another minute or two, the two ves- 
sels swung round alongside of each other, the stern of one to 
the bow of the other, the yards and rigging all entangled, the 
muzzles of the one touching the side of the other, the end of 
the main-yard of the American ship being directly over the 
main-hatchway of the Serapis. 

4. Xot a moment too soon had Commodore Jones closed 
with his powerful adversary. It was eight o'clock when the 
ships came together, and the action had lasted just an hour. 
By that time, though the Serapis had suffered no very serious 
damage, the Bon Homme Richard had received eighteen shots 
below the water ; had four feet of water in her hold ; was leaking 
as fast as her pumps could clear her ; had had four guns burst; 
had every gun on the side next the enemy silenced, except two 
nine-pounders on the quarter-deck; and had lost a hundred 
men in killed and wounded. Some officers had abandoned 
their posts, many more were disabled ; and all fighting on the 
decks seemed at an end. 

5. The ship, in fact, was beaten ; it was the indomitable v 
heart of John Paul Jones, supported by a few gallant spirits 
below and aloft, that was not conquered. In the tops, he re- 
ceived efficient aid, particularly in the main-top, where Lieu- 
tenant Stack commanded a most expert, vigilant, and daring 
body of sailors and marines 

6. Second Hour. — Brilliant moonlight. The commodore 
being now the only officer left on the quarter-deck, rallied the 
men that still had fight in them, and shifted over one of the 
nine-pounders on the other side of the deck, to the side next 



192 The United States Reader. [1779. 

the Serapis. The rest of the action was fought with the three 
nine-pounders and the musketry in the tops; not a gun below, 
nor a gun forward of the quarter-deck, was fired after the ships 
closed. Jones himself handled the nine-pounders. One of 
them he charged with round-shot, and pointed it continually 
at the main-mast of the Serapis; the others, filled with grape 
and canister, swept the enemy's decks with most destructive 
effect ; while from the tops rained a murderous fire of musketry. 

7. The commander of the Serapis relied chiefly upon his 
lower-deck gnus, and poured broadside after broadside into the 
battered uld hulk of the Bon Homme Richard, hoping to sink 
her. Both ships repeatedly caught fire; and "the scene," as 
Captain Jones observes, "was dreadful beyond the reach of 
language."' But the terror on board the Bon Homme Eichard 
was water, not fire; for it soon began to be doubtful if she 
could he kepi afloat long enough to light the action fairly out. 
Towards n im-. one of her pumps being shot away, and the car- 
penter crying out the ship must go down, a panic arose among 
the group near the pumps, and the gunner ran aft to strike the 
flag. 

8. "Fortunately for me," says Jones, "a cannon-ball had 
done that before;" which the gunner perceiving, he shouted, 
"Quarters! quarters!" in the tone of a man who thinks his 
ship is sinking. " Do you call for quarter?" shouted Captain 
Pearson. " No," replied Jones, with savage emphasis. The 
answer was unheard in the noise of the battle, and Captain 
Pearson ordered a party to board. 

9. On mounting the bulwarks of the Bon Homme Richard, 
the boarders were met by a vigorous charge of pikemen, who 
had been stationed along the deck for the purpose, under cover 
of the bulwarks. The boarders returned to their guns, and 
the battle was renewed with redoubled fury. At the moment 
of the panic on board the American ship, a petty officer had set 
at liberty the four hundred and fifty prisoners confined below, 
meaning to give them a chance for their lives; and, before 
they could be again secured, one of them, the captain of a 
twenty-gun ship taken a day or two before, leaped into a port- 



17 79.] American Revolution. 193 

hole of the Serapis, and told Captain Pearson that if he could 
but hold out a few minutes longer, the enemy's ship must 
sink. This news, equal to a reinforcement of two hundred 
men, gave new heart to the brave commander of the Serapis. 

10. And so the battle raged another hour, Jones being well 
seconded by the best of his crew, and efficiently aided by some 
of the volunteers. Even his purser, Mr. Matthew Mease, most 
nobly fought on the quarter-deck ; and w r hen, at last, he was 
wounded in the head so seriously that it was afterward tre- 
panned in six places, he only remained below long enough to 
have it bound with a handkerchief, and then returned to his 
gun. 

11. A young Parisian, named Baptiste Travallier (trali-val r - 
ya), a friend of the Chaumonts (s7w-mong f ), amused the band 
of fighting men on the quarter-deck. One of the sailors call- 
ing for wadding, young Travallier took off his coat and thrust 
it into the muzzle of the gun. Soon after, the ship catching 
fire, he took off his shirt, and dipping it into water, used it 
" with great dexterity " to extinguish the flames ; and fought 
the rest of the action in a cool undress of trousers and shoes. 

12. Third Hour. — The sharpshooters in the tops of the Bon 
Homme Kichard, aided by the commodore's grape and canister, 
had, by the end of the second hour of the battle, killed, wounded, 
or driven below, most of the men on the deck of the Serapis, 
and every man above the deck. Emboldened by this, the 
sailors in the main-top of the American formed a line along the 
main-yard, the end of which hung directly over the enemy's 
main hatchway. 

13. A cool and daring sailor, seated at the end of the yard, 
dropped hand-grenades into the hatchway. One of these ex- 
ploding in a heap of cartridges, they blew up with appalling 
effect. Twenty men were instantly blown to pieces; forty 
more were disabled, and, as some report, forty more were 
slightly wounded. The ship was set on fire in half a dozen 
places at once, nor was the fire extinguished until the next day. 
Thus, while one ship was threatened with one element, the 
other had to contend with another; and the question was, 



194 The United States Reader. [1779* 

which was likely to gain the faster, the water in the hold of 
the Richard, or the fire between the decks of the Serapis. . . 
14. The End of it. — Scottish grit carried the day on this 
occasion against English pluck. At half-past ten, when the 
combat had lasted three hours and a half, Captain Pearson 
ordered his flag to be struck. — Life of Franklin. 

Beptilge of the Americans at Savannah.— In September, 1779, 
D'Estaing appeared before Savannah, and prepared to co-operate with General 
Lincoln, then commanding tbe American forces in tbe South, in an effort to 
regain possession of the city. On the 9th of October, after a siege of about 
three weeks, an assault was made, but tbe allied forces were repulsed with tbe 
loss of about a thousand men. Among those who fell was the gallant Count 
Pulaski. General Lincoln, receiving no further aid from D'Estaing, was then 
obliged to abandon the siege, and he retired with his little army to Charleston. 

Pulaski's Banner. — Longfellow. 

[Count Pulaski, a brave Polish officer, entered the American service in 1777 ; and, after 
the battle of the Hrandywine, in which he commanded the cavalry, was made a brigadier. 
This appointment he soon resigned, to command an independent corps, which he raised 
in Baltimore in 177B. It waa on this occasion that he was presented with the celebrated 
banner Of crimson silk, by the Moravian nuns of Bethlehem, in Pennsylvania. This 
banner be gallantly bore through many a conflict until he fell at Savannah. The follow- 
ing beautiful poem commemorates the presentation of the banner.] 

WHEN the dying flame of clay 
Through the chancel shot its ray, 
Far the glimmering taper shed 
Faint light on the cowled head, 
And the censer burning swung, 
Where before the altar hung 
That proud banner, which, with prayer, 
Had been consecrated there ; 
And the nuns' sweet hymn was heard the while, 
" Sung low in the dim, mysterious aisle : 

" Take thy banner. May it wave 
Proudly o'er the good and brave, 
When the battle's distant wail 
Breaks the Sabbath of our vale ; 
When the clarion's 7 music thrills 
To the hearts of these lone hills ; 
When the spear in conflict shakes, 
And the strong lance, shivering, breaks. 



1780.] American Revolution. 195 

"Take thy banner; and, beneath 
The war-cloud's encircling wreath^ 
Guard it— till our homes are free; 
Guard it — God will prosper thee ! 
In the dark and tiying hour, 
In the breaking forth of power, 
In the rush of steeds and men, 
His right hand will shield thee then. 

" Take thy banner. But, when night 

Closes round the ghastly fight, 

If the vanquish'd warrior bow, 

Spare him — by our holy vow ; 

By our prayers and many tears ; 

By the mercy that endears ; 

Spare him — he our love hath shared ; 

Spare him — as thou would'st be spared. 

" Take thy banner ; and, if e'er 
Thou should'st press the soldier's bier, 
And the muffled drum should beat 
To the tread of mournful feet, 
Then this crimson flag shall be 
Martial cloak and shroud for thee." 
And the warrior took that banner proud, 
And it was his martial cloak and shroud. 
[The banner was saved by Pulaski's lieutenant, and was taken to Baltimore. It was 
subsequently deposited in Peale*s Museum ; and, in 1844, was presented to the Maryland 
Historical Society, in whose possession it still remains.] 

Events of 1780. — Taking of Charleston. — The principal mili- 
tary operations of 1780 were carried on in the Carolinas. Clinton, with a fleet 
commanded by Ar'buth-not, having sailed from New York to the South, ap- 
peared before Charleston in February, and, on the 1st of April, commenced a 
regular siege. The forces defending the city were commanded by Lincoln. 
While the siege was in progress, an American corps, stationed at Monk's Corner, 
to keep open a communication between the city and the interior, was surprised 
by CoL Tarleton (tad' tun) and put to flight. On the 12th of May, after a 
heroic defense of about forty days, Lincoln*surrendered ; and six thousand pris- 
oners fell into the hands of the British. 

Partisan Warfare in the South. — Clinton, believing South Caro- 
lina to be subdued, sailed for New York, leaving Cornwallis to carry the war 
into North Carolina and Virginia; but Generals Sumter* and Marion, and 

* Thomas Sumter was born in South Carolina, about 1734. During the Revolution he took an 
active and able part as one of the partisan leaders at the South. The qualities of bravery, determi- 



196 The United States Reader. [nso. 

other patriot leaders, by their partisan warfare, still kept alive the spirit of 
freedom at the South. Sumter met with a repulse at Reeky Mount, but at 
Hanging Rock, only a week after, he gained a decided victory. 

Marion's Brigade. — Ramsay. 

1. General Francis Marion was born at Winyard, in 
1733. His grand i'a th or was a native of Languedoc, and one of 
the many Protestants who fled from France to Carolina, to 

avoid persecution on account of religion On 

the formation of a regular army in 1775, to defend his native 
province against Great Britain, he was appointed a captain in 
the second South Carolina regiment, and had gradually risen 
to the rank of colonel before Charleston fell. 

2. Fortunately for his country, he had fractured his leg and 
retired from the garrison, which prevented his being made a 
prisoner of war. After the surrender, he retreated to North 
Carolina. On the approach of General Gates, he advanced 
with a small party through the country toward the Santee. 
On his arrival there, he found a number of his countrymen 
ready and willing to put themselves under his command, to 
which he had been appointed by General Gates. This corps 
afterward acrpiired the name of Marion's Brigade 

3. In a few days after taking the command, General Marion 
led his men across the Pedee at Post's Ferry, to disperse a large 
party of tories, commanded by Major Gainey, collected between 
Gnat and Little Pedee. He surprised them in their camp, 
and killed one of their captains and several privates. Two of 
his own party were wounded. Major James was detached at 
the head of a volunteer troop of horse to attack their horse. 
He came up with them, charged, and drove them into Little 
Pedee swamp. 

4. Marion returned to Post's Ferry, and threw up a redoubt 
on the east bank of Pedee, to awe the tories, still numerous in 
that neighborhood. While thus employed, he heard of the 

nation, and cheerfulness, which he exhibited, endeared him to his followers, who bestowed upon him 
the sobriquet of the " Carolina Game-Cock. " Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, was so named in 
honor of him. His death occurred in South Carolina, in 1832. 



1780.] American Revolution. 197 

defeat of Gates, at Camden, August 16th, 1780. Without 
communicating the intelligence, he immediately marched for 
EFelson's Ferry, on the Santee, in the hope of intercepting some 
of the prisoners on their way to Charleston. Near Nelson's, he 
was informed of a party on their way down, and found by his 
scouts that the British had stopped at the house on the main 
road on the east side of Santee. 

5. The general waited till near daylight next morning, and 
then divided his men into two divisions. A small party under 
Colonel Hugh Horry (the bosom-friend of General Marion) 
was directed to gain possession of the road at the entrance of 
the swamp, and the main body, led by himself, was, by a cir- 
cuitous route, to attack the British in the rear. Colonel Horry, 
in taking his position, had advanced in the dark too near to a 
sentinel, who fired upon him. In a moment he, with his little 
party, rushed up to the house, found the British arms piled 
before, the door, and seized upon them. 

6. Thus, by a party of sixteen American militia, was a 
British guard of thirty-two men taken, and one hundred and 
fifty prisoners released. Colonel Horry had one man wounded. 
However, the news of the defeat of Gates, which now became 
public, damped all joy for the complete success of this well- 
conducted attack. On the same day, General Marion marched 
back for his old position on the Pedee. On the way, many of 
his militia, and, with the exception of two, the whole of the 
regulars released from the enemy, deserted. But, by the exer- 
tions of the general and his officers, the spirits of the drooping 
began to revive. \ 

7- About the 11th of September, 1780, when Marion had 
under his command only one hundred and fifty men, lie heard 
of the approach of Major Weyms from the King's Tree, at the 
head of a British regiment and Harrison's regiment of tories. 
Major James was instantly despatched at the head of a party 
of volunteers to reconnoitre, and with orders to count the 
enemy. On his return a council of war was called. The 
British force was reported to be double that of Marion's. 
Gainey's party of tories in the rear had always been estimated 



198 The United States Reader. [i?so. 

at five hundred men. Under these discouraging circumstances, 
the line of march was directed back toward Lynch's Creek. 

8. This was a most trying occasion. Men were called upon 
to leave their property and their families at the discretion of an 
irritated and relentless enemy. About half of Marion's party- 
left him; Colonels Peter and Hugh Horry, Colonels John Er- 
win and John Baxter, Major John Vanderhorst, Major John 
James, Major Benson, and about sixty others, continued with 
their general Captain James, with ten chosen men, was left 
to succor the distressed and to convey intelligence. 

il. The next morning, Marion arrived at his redoubt; and at 
Bnnsei the same evening turned toward North Carolina, and 
soon reached the eastern bank of Drowning Creek, in that 
State Major James obtained leave to return at the head of a 
[\-w volunteers, and General Marion continued on to the White 
Marsh, near the source of the Waccamaw. In a little time the 
major returned with intelligence of the depredations and. 
house-burnings committed by Weyms. Many of Marion's party 
were reduced from easy circumstances to poverty. . . . 

10. In all these marches, Marion and his men lay in the 
Open air, with little covering, and with little other food than 
Bweel potatoes and meat, mostly *vi thou t salt. Though it was 
in the unhealthy season of autumn, yet sickness seldom oc- 
curred. The general fared worse than his men; for his baggage 
having caught tire by accident, he had literally but hall* a 
blanket to cover him from the dews of the night, and but half 
a hat to shelter him from the rays of the sun. . . . 

11. After the return of General Greene* to Carolina, in 1781, 
Marion acted under his orders; and the exploits of his brigade, 
no longer acting by itself, make a part of the general history of 
the Revolutionary War. — History of South Carolina. 

* Nathaniel Greene was horn of Quaker parents, at Warwick, Rhode Island. in 1742. Tie aided, at 
the beginning of the Revolution, in driving the British from Boston, and he took a distin- 
guished part in the battles of Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine. Germantown. and Quaker Hill : and 
commanded in the battles of Guilford Court-TIonse. Hobkirk's Hill, and En taw Springs. He died of 
". sun-stroke." in Georgia, near Savannah, in 17S6. On the 8th of August of that year. Congress 
adopted the following resolution: "That a monument be erected to Nathaniel Greene. Esq.. at the 
seat of the Federal government, with the following inscription: Sacred to the memory of Nathaniel 
Greene. Esq., a native of the State of Rhode Island, who died on the 19th of June. L783; late major- 
general in the service of the United States, and commander of their army in the Southern Depart- 
ment, etc." 



1780.] American Revolution. 199 

Song of Marion's Men. — Bryant. 

1. Our band is few, but true and tried, our leader frank and bold; 
The British soldier trembles when Marion's name is told ; 
Our fortress is the good greenwood, our tent the cypress-tree ; 
"We know the forest round us, as seamen know the sea. 

We know its walls of thorny vines, its glades of reedy grass, 
Its safe and silent islands within the dark morass. 

2. Woe to the English soldiery that little dread us near ! 

On them shall light at midnight a strange and sudden fear ; 
When, waking to their tents on lire, they grasp their arms in vain, 
And they who stand to face us are beat to earth again ; 
And they who fly in terror deem a mighty host behind, 
And hear the tramp of thousands upon the hollow wind. 

3. Then sweet the hour that brings release from danger and from toil ! 
We talk the battle over and share the battle's spoil ; 

The woodland rings with laugh and shout, as if a hunt were up, 
And woodland flowers are gathered to crown the soldier's cup. 
With merry songs we mock the wind that in the pine-top grieves, 
And slumber long and sweetly on beds of oaken leaves. 

4. Well knows the fair and friendly moon the band that Clarion leads — 
The glitter of their rifles, the scampering of their steeds. 

'Tis life to guide the fiery barb across the moonlit plain ; 
'Tis life to feel the night-wind that lifts bis tossing mane. 
A moment, in the British camp — a moment, and away 
Back to the pathless forest before the peep of day. 

5. Grave men there are by broad Santee, grave men with hoary hairs, 
Their hearts are all with Marion, for Marion are their prayers. 
And lovely ladies greet our band with kindliest welcoming, 
With smiles like those of summer and tears like those of spring. 
For them we wear these trusty arms, and lay them down no more, 
Till we have driven the Briton forever from our shore. 

Marion, Sumter, and Pickens. — JET. Lee. 

1. Marion was about forty-eight years of age, small in 
stature, hard in visage, healthy, abstemious, and taciturn. 
Enthusiastically wedded to the cause of liberty, he deeply 
deplored the doleful condition of his beloved country. The 
common weal was his sole object; nothing selfish, nothing 
mercenary, soiled his character. Fertile in stratagem, he 
9* 



200 TJie United States Reader. 



Struck unpereeived ; and, retiring to those hidden retreats 
Belected by himself, in the morasses of the Pedee and the Black 
Rivers, he placed his corps not only out of the reach of his foe, 
but often out of the discovery of his friends. 

2. A rigid disciplinarian*, he reduced to practice the justice 
of the heart; and during the difficult course of warfare through 
which he passed, calumny itself never charged him with 
violating the rights of person, property, or humanity. Never 
avoiding danger, he never rashly sought it; and acting for 
all around him as he did for himself, he risked the lives of 
his troops only when it was necessary. Never elated with 
prosperity, nor depressed by adversity, he preserved an equa- 
nimity which won the admiration of his friends, and exacted 
the respect of his enemies. The country from Camden to the 
sea-coast, between Pedee and Santee Rivers, was the theatre of 
his exertions. 

3. Sumter was younger than Marion, larger in frame, better 
6tted in strength <>i* body to the toils of war, and, like his 
compeer, devoted to the freedom of his country. His aspect 
was manly and stern, denoting insuperable firmness and lofty 
courage. He was not over-scrupulous as a soldier in his use 
of means, and apt to make considerable allowances for a state 
of war. Believing it warranted by the necessity of the case, 
he did not occupy his mind with critical examinations of the 
equity of his measures, or their bearings on individuals, but 
indiscriminately pressed forward to his end — the destruction of 
his enemies and the liberation of his country. 

4. In his military character he resembled Ajax, relying 
more upon the fierceness of his courage than upon the results 
of nnrelaxing vigilance and nicely adjusted combination. De- 
termined to deserve success, he risked his own life and the lives 
of his associates without reserve. Enchanted with the splendor 
of victory, he would wade in torrents of blood to attain it. 
This general drew about him the hardy sons of the upper and 
middle grounds; brave and determined like himself, familiar 
with difficulty, and fearless of danger. He traversed the region 
between Camden and Ninety-Six. 



lfso.] American Revolution. 201 

5. A third gentleman followed their example. Andrew 
Pickens, younger than either of them, inexperienced in war 
with a sound head, a virtuous heart, and a daring spirit, joined 
in the noble resolve to burst the chains of bondage riveted upon 
the two southern States, and soon found himself worthy of 
being ranked with his illustrious precursors. This gentleman 
was also promoted by the governor to the station of brigadier- 
general; and, having assembled his associates of the same 
brave and hardy cast, distinguished himself and his corps, in 
the progress of the war, by the patience and cheerfulness with 
which every privation was borne, and the gallantry with which 
every danger was confronted. The country between Ninety-six 
and Augusta received his chief attention. 

6. These leaders were always engaged in breaking up the 
smaller posts and intermediate communications, or in repairing 
losses sustained by action. The troops which followed their 
fortunes, on their own or their friends' horses, were armed with 
rifles, in the use of which they had become expert; a small por- 
tion only, who acted as cavalry, being provided with sabres. 
When they approached an enemy, they dismounted, leaving 
their horses in some hidden spot, to the care of a few of their 
comrades. Victorious or vanquished, they flew to their horses, 
and thus improved victory or secured retreat. 

7. Their marches were long and toilsome, and they seldom 
partook of food more than once a day. Their combats were 
like those of the Parthians, sudden and fierce, their decisions 
speedy, and all their subsequ ent measures equally prompt. With 
alternate fortunes they persevered to the last, and greatly con- 
tributed to that success which was the first object of their 
efforts, — Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of 
the United States. 

Arnold's Treason. — The year 1780 is particularly memorable for the 
"Treason of Arnold." In 1778, after the British had evacuated Philadelphia, 
Arnold was put in command of that city. Here he lived at an expense beyond 
his income, and, to meet the demands of his creditors, appropriated public 
funds to his own use. Charges were preferred against him, and, in conformity 
with the decision of the court, he was reprimanded by Washington. He felt 



202 The United States Reader. lit so. 

tin* disgrace, and determined to wreak his vengeance. Having secured the com- 
mand of West Point, he offered, by means of a correspondence which he had 
carried on several months, to betray it into the hands of Clinton. Major An die, 
fiid-de-camp to Clinton, was sent to finish the plan of treason and adjust the 
traitor's recompense. Andre proceeded up the Hudson, and, at a place six miles 
below West Point, met Arnold, and completed the bargain. 

[nstead of returning by water, as had been previously arranged, Andre was 
compelled by circumstances to cross to the cast side of the Hudson and proceed by 
land. When near Tarrytown, he was stopped by three militiamen, — Paulding, 
Williams, and Van Wart, — who conducted him to North Castle, the nearest 
military station of the Americans. The commander at North Castle, having 
no suspicion of Arnold's base design, wrote to that officer, informing him of 
the arrest of Andre. The traitor, startled and alarmed upon reading the letter, 
escaped on board the British sloop-of-war Vulture, the vessel which had been 
intended for Andre's return, and took refuge in New York. Andre was con- 
veyed to Tappan, a village on the west side of the Hudson, opposite Tarrytown, 
and was there tried by a court-martial, found guilty, and, agreeably to the laws 
and usages of nation-, executed as a spy. Arnold was made a brigadier- 
general in the British service. 



Execution of Major Andre. — Alexander Hamilton, 

1. Never, perhaps, did any man suffer death with more 
justice, or deserve it less. The first step he took after his cap- 
tin-', was to write a l<-tter to General Washington, conceived in 
terms of dignity without insolence, and apology without 
meanness. The scope of it was to vindicate himself from the 
imputation of having assumed a mean character for treacher- 
ous or interested purposes; asserting that he had been involun- 
tarily an impostor; that, contrary to his intention, which was 
to meet a person for intelligence on neutral ground, he had 
been betrayed within our posts, and forced into the vile Gon- 
dii ion of an enemy in disguise; soliciting only that to what- 
ever rigor policy might devote him, a decency of treatment 
might be observed due to a person, who, though unfortunate, 
had been guilty of nothing dishonorable. 

2. His request Mas granted in its full extent; for, in the 
whole progress of the affair, he was treated with the most 
scrupulous delicacy. When brought before the board of officers, 
he met with every mark of indulgence, and was required to 



1780.] American Revolution. 203 

answer no interrogatory which would even embarrass his feel- 
ings. On his part, while he carefully concealed everything 
that might implicate others, he frankly confessed all the facts 
relating to himself, and, upon his confession, without the 
trouble of examining a witness, the board made their report. 
. 3. The members were not more impressed with the candor 
and firmness, mixed with a becoming sensibility, which he dis- 
played, than he was penetrated with their liberality and polite- 
ness. He acknowledged the generosity of the behavior toward 
him in every respect, but particularly in this, in the strongest 
terms of manly gratitude. In a conversation with a gentle- 
man who visited him after his trial, he said, he flattered himself 
he had never been illiberal; but, if there were any remains of 
prejudice in his mind, his present experience must obliterate 
them. 

4. In one of the visits I made (and I saw him several times 
during his confinement), he begged me to be the bearer of a 
request to the general, for permission to send an open letter 
to Sir Henry Clinton. "I foresee my fate," said he, "and 
though I pretend not to play the hero, or to be indifferent 
about life, yet I am reconciled to whatever may happen, con- 
scious that misfortune, not guilt, has brought it upon me. 
There is only one thing that disturbs my tranquillity. Sir 
Henry Clinton has been too good to me ; he has been lavish of 
his kindness; I am bound to him by too many obligations, and 
love him too well to bear the thought that he should reproach 
himself, or others should reproach him, on the supposition of 
my having conceived myself obliged, by his instructions, to run 
the risk I did. I would not, for the world, leave a sting in his 
mind that should embitter his future clays." 

5. He could scarcely finish the sentence, bursting into tears 
in spite of his efforts to suppress them, and with difficulty col- 
lecting himself enough afterward to add: "I wish to be permit- 
ted to assure him, I did not act under this impression, but 
submitted to a necessity imposed upon me, as contrary to my 
own inclinations as to his orders." His request w r as readily 
complied with ; and he wrote the letter annexed, with which I 



204 The United States Reader. [i78o. 

dare say you will be as much pleased as I am, both for the senti- 
ments and diction. 

6. When his sentence was announced to him, he remarked, 
that since he was to die, there was still a choice in the mode, 
which would make a material difference to his feelings; and he 
would be happy, if possible, to be indulged with a professional 
death. He made a second application by letter, in concise, but 
persuasive terms. It was thought that this indulgence, being 
incompatible" with the customs of war, could not be granted ; 
and it was, therefore, determined, in both cases, to evade an 
answer, to spare the sensations which a certain knowledge of 
the intended mode would inflict. 

7. Iu going to the place of execution, he bowed familiarly as 
he went along, to all those with whom he had been acquainted 
in his confinement. A smile of complacency expressed the 
Berene fortitude of his mind. Arrived at the fatal spot, he 
asked, with some emotion: ''Must I then die in this manner?" 
He was fold it had been unavoidable. "I am reconciled to my 
laic." said he, "but not to the mode." Soon, however, recol- 
lecting himself, he added: "It will be but a momentary pang;" 
and springing upon the cart, performed the last offices for him- 
self with a composure that excited the admiration and melted 
the hearts of tin' beholders. 

8. Upon being told the final moment was at hand, and asked 
if he had anything to say, he answered: "Nothing, but to re- 
quest you will witness to the world that I die like a brave 
man." Among the extraordinary circumstances that attended 
him, in the midst of his enemies, he died universally regretted 
and universally esteemed. 

9. There was something singularly interesting in the charac- 
ter and fortunes of Andre. To an excellent understanding, 
well improved by education and travel, he united a peculiar 
elegance of mind and manners, and the advantage of a pleas- 
ing person. 'Tis said he possessed a pretty taste for the fine 
arts, and had himself attained some proficiency in poetry, 
music, and painting. His knowledge appeared without osten- 
tation, and embellished by a diffidence that rarely accompanies 



i78o.j American Revolution. 2o5 

so many talents and accomplishments, which left yon to sup- 
pose more than appeared. 

10. His sentiments were elevated, and inspired esteem; they 
had a softness that conciliated affection. His elocution was hand- 
some ; his address easy, polite, and insinuating. By his merit, 
he had acquired the unlimited confidence of his general, and 
was making a rapid progress in military rank and reputation. 
But in the height of his career, flushed with new hopes from 
the execution of a project the most beneficial to his party that 
conlcl be devised, he was at once precipitated from the summit 
of prosperity, and saw all the expectations of his ambition 
blasted, and himself ruined. — Letter to Laurens. 

Andre's Last Request. — Willis. 

[The request of Andre to Washington, to be permitted to die the death of a soldier, not 
of a spy, is beautifully expressed in the following lines by N.*P. Willis.] 
It is not the fear of death 

That clamps my brow ; 
It is not for another breath 

I ask thee now ; 
I can die with a lip unstirr'd, 

And a quiet heart — 
Let but this prayer be heard 

Ere I depart. 

I can give up my mother's look— 

My sister's kiss ; 
I can think of love — yet brook 

A death like this ! 
I can give up the young fame 

I burned to win ; 
All but the spotless name 

I glory in. 

Thine is the power to give, 

Thine to deny, 
Joy for the hour I live, 

Calmness to die. 
By all the brave should cherish, 

By my dying breath, 
I ask that I may perish 

By a soldier's death. 



206 The United States Reader. [i78i. 

Benedict Arnold.— Garden. 

1. That treachery creates its own punishment, and, to the 
detestation of the world, adds the inward agony '"'that passeth 
show," is strikingly exemplified in the history of the apostate' 
An. old. What were the results of his desertion? The fair 
fame acquired by his early exertions as a patriot-soldier was 
blasted. Children that had learned to lisp his deeds of gallant- 
ry, now shuddered with abhorrence at his name. 

2. Execrated* by his former friends, proscribed by his coun- 
try, reluctantly obeyed, and by the meanest sentinel held in the 
meanest contempt, his life was a constant scene of apprehen- 
sion, misery, and remorse. 'A cloud hung over his fortunes 
thai Bhaded his countenance with the gloom of despair, and 
betrayed tin; increasing agonies of his guilty heart. That such 
was the state of his mind is clear, from his anxiety to learri 
from others what they supposed his fate would be should he 
fall into the hands of his countrymen. 

3. While commanding the predatory* expedition on the 
shores of Virginia, a service peculiarly suited to his character, 
— it is stated that, on one occasion, when some danger appeared 
of his being taken, he asked an officer near him, "What treat- 
ment, think you, sir, am I to look for, should the rebels make 
me their prisoner? ,, "I have no doubt," replied the officer, 
"though my frankness may offend, but that they will cut off 
the leg that was wounded in storming the British lines at 
Saratoga, and bury it with the honors of war ; but, having no 
respect for the rest of your body, they will gibbet it." 

4. The contempt that followed him through life is further 
illustrated by the speech of the present Lord Lauderdale, who, 
perceiving Arnold on the right hand of the king, and near his 
person, as he addressed his Parliament, declared on his return 
to the Commons, " that however gracious the language he had 
heard from the throne, his indignation could not but be greatly 
excited, beholding, as he had done, his Majesty supported by a 
traitor." And on another occasion, Lord Surrey, since Duke 
of Norfolk, rising to speak in the House of Commons, and 



i78i.] American Revolution. 207 

perceiving Arnold in the gallery, sat down with precipitation'; 
exclaiming, "I will not speak while that man (pointing to 
him) is in the House." 

5. I myself witnessed a remarkably strong proof of it. Sit- 
ting in a coffee-house, at Cowes, in 1792, with a British officer 
of high distinction, he purposely turned the conversation on 
the blessings of the Americans, declaring, with earnestness, 
that he believed them happier and more to be envied than any 
people in the world. A stranger who sat near, and who ap- 
peared intent on these encomiums v , rose hastily and left the 
room; when my companion said, "I perceive that you are 
unacquainted with the traitor, once the pride of your army: 
the man who has just retired is Benedict Arnold. The lan- 
guage which I used must have appeared extravagant. I spoke 
of America with enthusiasm, to make him feel his degrada- 
tion ; as no one, in my opinion, so highly deserves execration." 

6. It must ever be lamented, that, while so generous and 
high-spirited a soldier as Andre paid the penalty of the treason, 
the traitor should live to enjoy pecuniary recompense and 
command; — I cannot say honor, for, from the moment of his 
apostasy v , he sunk into the most profound abyss of infamy. 
The very services required of him showed the opinion of the 
commander-in-chief. What was the object in Virginia ? Plun- 
der. , AVhat at Xew London ? Destruction. He was an adept 
at both, and failed not to add to the black catalogue of his 
former atrocities.* 

Events of 1781. — Mutiny of the Pennsylvania Troops, 
— During the winter of 1780-1, great dissatisfaction existed among the troops 
of Washington's army, because they had not been paid for several months, and 
were not provided with sufficient clothing and provisions. This feeling in- 
creasing among the Pennsylvania troops, owing to a dispute about the term of 
their enlistment, they left their camp at Morristown, on the first day of 1781, to 
seek redress of Congress. On the march toward Philadelphia they were over- 
taken by two emissai-ies v of Clinton, whom they seized and conducted to Gen. 
Wayne, to be treated as spies. At Princeton they were met by a committee 

* Benedict Arnold was born at Norwich, Connecticut, in 1740. After the ^Revolution he was 
engaged in business for a time at St. John's, New Brunswick. He died in obscurity, at London, in 
1301. 



2o8 The United States Reader. [i78i. 

of Congress, who satisfied their pressing wants, and thus suppressed the revolt. 
This mutiny, and another among the New Jersey troops, which was speedily 
quelled hy military power, quickened Congress to act for the relief of the 
army. 

Measures of Relief.— Robert Morris, — Taxation was resorted 
to, an agent was sent to Europe for aid, and other measures were adopted. 
Robert Morris, who had hccn appointed superintendent of the national treasury, 
was very active in the discharge of his duties; and, by the financial aid which 
he rendered, enabled Congress to prosecute the war. Upon his recommenda- 
tion, the Bank of North America was established at a later period; and this 
institution proved of great service during the rest of the contest. 

Hat tie of the Cowpens. — Gates, in consequence of his defeat at 
Sanders Creek, was superseded in the command hy Gen. Greene, who at once 
sent Gen. Morgan* to check the devastations of the British in South Carolina. 
At the Cow' pens, on the 17th of January, Tarleton overtook Morgan; but, 
after a severe battle, the British were completely routed, losing about eight 
hundred men, while the loss of the Americans did not exceed eighty. 

Retreat of Morgan and Greene. — Morgan, after his victory, 
hurried off in a northeasterly direction ; and Cornwallis, on hearing of Tarlc- 
tou's defeat, started in pursuit, and reached the Ca-taw'ha, at evening, on the 
29th, just two hours after the Americans had forded the river. He halted, 
intending to cross in the morning, but, during the night, a heavy rain set in, 
and, by daybreak, the stream was so swollen as to be impassable. Here, on the 
cast side of the Catawba, Greene came to the aid of Morgan, and, taking the 
command, continued the retreat. At the Yadkin the Americans were again 
favored by a rain-storm; and, after they crossed the Dan, Cornwallis gave up 
the pursuit. 

Battle of Guilford Court-House. — In a few days Greene recrossed 
the Dan into North Carolina. Receiving re-enforcement, which increased his 
army to over four thousand men, he no longer avoided a battle. At Guilford 
{ghU'fard) Court-House, where he had taken a position, he was attacked on the 
15th of March, The result, though unfavorable to the Americans, left Corn- 
wallis in such a disabled condition, that, three days after, he retreated from the 
field of victory, taking the road to Wilmington. 

Rattle of Hobkirk's Hill. — Greene rallied his forces, and for several 
days pursued Cornwallis; but not being able to overtake him, advanced into 
South Carolina to attack the enemy at Camden. At Hobkirk's Hill, two 
miles from that place, Lord Bawdon partly surprised him on the 25th of April. 
The straggle was waged with varied fortune ; but at length, a regiment of the 
Americans breaking, the patriots were forced to retreat. 

* Daniel Mot-Ran was born in New Jersey, in 1736 He was witli Braddock in the expedition of 
175."), performing the humlile duties of teamster. At the breaking; nut of the Revolution, he joined 
Washington, at Cambridge, with a rifle corps. He accompanied Arnold across the wilderness to 
Quebec, and participated in the attempt to capture that city. In the battle of Bemis Heights he 
took a distinguished part. His death occurred in 1802, at Winchester, Virginia. 



1781.] American Revolution. 209 

Battle of Eutaiv Springs.— Close of the Campaign,.— The 
battle of Eutaw (u'taw) Springs, fought on the 8th of September, between 
Greene and Stuart, closed the contest in the Carolinas. This was a desperate 
engagement, and at one time victory seemed certain for the Americans ; but 
the British rallying, Greene drew off his troops, taking with him about five 
hundred prisoners. The enemy decamped during the night. In this battle, 
which may be said to have closed the contest in South Carolina, both parties 
claimed the victory. Washington considered it a victory for the Americans, as 
the advantage, without doubt, was on their side. 

Thus ended certainly the most brilliant campaign of the war, — a campaign 
which, although decided success was not fully attained by the Americans, was 
of inconceivable vaiue to their cause, and in which, without doubt, more skillful 
generalship was displayed by their commander, than was exhibited in any other 
continuous series of operations during the entire war. 

Character of General Greene. — Alexander Hamilton. 

1. As a man, the virtues of Xathaniel Greene are admitted ; as 
a patriot, he holds a place in the foremost rank ; as a statesman, 
he is praised ; as a soldier, he is admired. But in the two last 
characters, especially in the last but one, his reputation Mis far 
below his desert. It required a longer life and still greater op- 
portunities, to have enabled him to exhibit, in full day, the vast 
— I had almost said the enormous — powers of his mind. 

2. The termination of the American war — not too soon for ' 
his wishes, nor for the welfare of his country, but too soon for 
his glory— put an end to his military career. The sudden 
termination of his life cut him off from those scenes which the 
progress of a new, immense, and unsettled empire could not 
fail to open to the complete exertion of that universal and per- 
vading genius which qualified him not less for the senate than 
for the field. 

3. General Greene, descended from reputable parents, but, not 
placed by birth in that elevated rank which, under a monarchy, 
is the only sure road to those employments that give activity 
and scope to abilities, must, in all probability, have contented 
himself with the humble lot of a private citizen, or, at most, 
with the contracted sphere of an elective officer in a colonial 
and dependent government, scarcely conscious of the resources 
of his own mind, had not the violated rights of his country 



2 i o The Un ited St a tes Re a der. [ 1 7 s i . 

called him to act a part on a more splendid and more ample 
theatre. 

4. Happily for America, lie hesitated not to obey the call. 
The vigor of his genius, corresponding with the importance of 
fche prize to be contended for, overcame the natural moderation 
of his temper; and though not hurried on by enthusiasm, 
but animated by an enlightened sense of the value of free gov- 
ernment, he cheerfully resolved to stake his fortune, his hopes, 
his life, and his honor, upon an enterprise of the danger of 
which he knew the whole magnitude, — in a cause which was 
worthy of the toils and the blood of heroes. 

5. The sword having been appealed to at Lexington as the 
arbiter of the controversy between Great Britain and America, 
Greene shortly after marched, at the head of a regiment, to join 
the American forces at Cambridge, determined to abide the 
awful decision, lb- was not long there before the discerning eye 
of the American Fabius* marked him out as the object of his 
confid ii'-''. His abilities entitled him to a pre-eminent share 
in the councils of his chief. II" gained it, and he preserved it, 
amidsl all the checkered varieties of military vicissitude, and 
in defiance of all the intrigues of* jealous and aspiring rivals. 

0. Aa Long ;t- the measures which conducted us safely through 
thefirsl mosi critical stages of the war shall be remembered with 
approbation ; as long as the enterprises of Trenton and Prince- 
ton shall be regarded as the dawnings of that bright day which 
afterward broke forth with such resplendent lustre; as long as 
the almost magic operations of the remainder of that memorable 
winter, distinguished not more by these events than by the ex- 
traordinary spectacle of a powerful army straitened within nar- 
row limits by the phantom of a military force, and never per- 
mitted to transgress those limits with impunity, in which skill 
supplied the place of means, and disposition was the substitute 
for an army ; as long, I say, as these operations shall continue to 
be the objects of curiosity and wonder, so long ought the name 
of Greene to be revered by a grateful country. — Eulogium before 
tJie Society of Cincinnati. 

* Washington was so called on account of his cautious generalship. 



lisi.] American Revolution. 211 

Siege of Yorktown,— Surrender of Cornwallis. — The opera- 
tions of Cornwallis in Virginia were very distressing to the patriotic inhabitants, 
as Lafayette, in consequence of the inferiority of his forces, was unable to make 
a stand against the enemy. In August, Cornwallis concentrated his forces at 
Yorktown, and at once began to strengthen his position by fortifications. In 
the meantime Washington had made preparations by which a large force of 
French troops, co-operating with another of Americans, was to make an attack 
for the recovery of New York. On learning, however, that a French fleet would 
soon arrive in the Chesapeake, Washington was induced to change his design, 
and proceed against Cornwallis. Yorktown was accordingly soon invested with 
a large land-force, while the French fleet, commanded by Count de Grasse [gras), 
blockaded the York and James Rivers: On the 9th of October, the allied 
armies commenced a cannonade so heavy, that in a day or two most of the 
works of the British were demolished. At length, on the 19th, finding his 
position untenable, and seeing no prospect of relief, Cornwallis* surrendered 
the place, with more than seven thousand soldiers, to Washington, and his 
shipping and seamen to De Grasse. 

Yorktown. — Wliittier. 

From Yorktown's ruins, ranked and still, 
Two lines stretch far o'er vale and hill : 
Who curbs his steed at head of one ? 
Hark ! the low murmur : Washington ! 
Who bends his keen, approving glance 
Where down the gorgeous line of France 
Shine knightly star and plume of snow? 
Thou too art victor, Rochambeau ! f 

The earth which bears this calm array- 
Shook with the war-charge yesterday ; 
Ploughed deep with hurrying hoof and wheel, 
Shot down and bladed thick with steel ; 
October's clear and noonday sun 
Paled in the breath-smoke of the gun ; 
And down night's double blackness fell, 
Like a dropped star, the blazing shell. 

Now all is hushed : the gleaming lines 
Stand moveless as the neighboring pines ; 
While through them, sullen, grim, and slow, 
The conquered hosts of England go : 

* After the Revolution he was appointed to an important command in India, where he inaugu- 
rated a series of victories by which the British authority there was finally established. He died in 
India, in 1805. 

t Count Rochambeau (Vj-shong-bo') commanded the French troops in the siege. 



212 The United States Reader. [i78i. 

O'Hara's brow belies his dress, 
Gay Tarleton's troop ride bannerless : 
Shout, from thy fired and wasted homes, 
Thy scourge, Virginia, captive comes! 

Nor thou alone : with one glad voice 
Let all thy sister States rejoice ; 
Let Freedom, in whatever clime 
She waits with sleepless eye her time, 
Shouting from cave and mountain wood, 
Make glad her desert solitude, 
While they who hunt her quail with fear: 
The New World's chain lies broken here. 

Jf.rpedifion of A mold. — In the mean time Arnold had been despatched, 
by Clinton, on an expedition against New London, in the hope that Washington 
would thus l)e diverted from Ins design upon Cornwallis and Yorktown. Fort 
Griswold, by which the town was defended, made a brave defense, but was 
finally carried by assault. Col. Led yard, its commander, was murdered with his 
own sword, after yielding it np, and many of the garrison were also slaughtered. 
The town was reduced to ashes. 

Close of the Revolution.— The surrender of Cornwallis caused great 
rejoicings throughout the United States, being considered a death-blow to the 
war. The effect in England was as might have been anticipated. Public 
opinion became so decidedly opposed to the further prosecution of hostilities, 
that, upon the formation of a new ministry, negotiations were entered into for 
the establishment of peace. A convention of commissioners from the two 
countries met at Paris, four of whom, Benjamin Franklin, John .Adams, John 
Jay, and Henry Laurens, represented the United States, and, on the 30th of 
November, 17S2, they signed a preliminary treaty. A cessation of hostilities 
was proclaimed in the American army on the 19th of April, 1783, the eighth 
anniversary of the battle of Lexington; and, on the 3d of September, 
a definitive treaty of peace was signed at Paris. By the terms of this treaty, 
Great Britain acknowledged the independence of the United States, conceded 
boundaries extending to the great lakes on the north and the Mississippi on the 
west, as well as an unlimited right to fish on the banks of Newfoundland. Flor- 
ida was, at the same time, given back to Spain. 

IHfficulties at the Close of the War. — The close of the war found 
the national treasury empty ; the States were unable to respond to the call of 
Congress for money, and the resources obtained by foreign loans were nearly 
exhausted. The government was, accordingly, unable to meet the just claims 
made upon it, and the consequence was general discontent, particularly among 
the officers and privates of the army. Through the influence of Washington, 
these discontents in the army were soothed, and arrangements were made 
by which Congress granted five years' whole pay to the officers, instead of, 



1781.1 American Revolution. 213 

as by resolution passed in 1780, half pay for life. Four months' whole pay 
was granted to the soldiers, in part liquidation of their claims. During this 
period the headquarters of Washington were at Newburg. ( See Newburg Ad- 
dresses, p. 214.) 

Proposal of Colonel Xicola. — It was at this place that an event oc- 
curred, which, while it gave gi-eat pain as well as alarm to Washington, served 
to illustrate more forcibly than any other incident could have done, the virtue, 
magnanimity, and disinterested patriotism, for which his character is so remark- 
able. Colonel Nicola was the usual medium employed by the officers and sol- 
diers to convey to the commander-in-chief their troubles, their complaints, and 
their desires. In May, 1783, this officer addressed a letter to him, complaining 
of the then condition of the army and the country, and the unsatisfactory pros- 
pect of improvement and relief through the action of Congress, and expressing 
the opinion that a republican form of government was insecure and unreliable, 
and that the English form of government was more stable, and preferable on 
other accounts. This celebrated letter ended thus : " It will, I believe, be un- 
controverted, that the same abilities which have led us, through difficulties 
apparently insurmountable, to human power, to victory and glory — those quali- 
ties that have merited and obtained the universal esteem and veneration of an 
army — would be most likely to conduct and direct us in the smoother paths of 
peace. Some people have so connected the idea of 'tyranny and monarchy, as 
to find it very difficult to separate them. It may, therefore, be requisite to give 
the head of such a constitution as I propose, some title apparently more moderate ; 
but, if all other things were once adjusted, I believe strong arguments might be 
produced for admitting the title of King, which I conceive would be attended 
with some national advantage." The following was Washington's reply, proba- 
bly, in view of the conduct of other distinguished men in the world's history, the 
most to be admired of all his utterances : 



Washington's Reply to Colonel Nicola. 

Sir : With a mixture of great surprise and astonishment. I 
have read with attention the sentiments you have submitted to 
my pernsal. Be assured, sir, no occurrence in the course of 
this war has given me more painful sensations than your infor- 
mation of there being such ideas existing in the army as you 
have expressed, and which I must view with abhorrence and 
reprehend with severity. For the present, the communication 
of them will rest in my own bosom, unless some further agita- 
tion of the matter shall make a disclosure necessary. I am much 
at a loss to conceive what part of my conduct shoul'd have given 
encouragement to an address which to me seems big with the 



214 The United States Reader. [i?si. 

greatest mischiefs that can befall my country. If I am not de- 
ceived in the knowledge of myself, you could not have found a 
person to whom your schemes are more disagreeable. At the 
same time, in justice to my own feelings, I must add, that no 
man possesses a more serious wish to see ample justice done to 
the army, than I do; and as far as my power and influence, in 
a constitutional way, extend, they shall be employed to the ut- 
most of my abilities to effect it, should there be any occasion. 
Let me conjure you, then, if you have any regard for your 
count ry, concern for yourself or posterity, or respect for me, to 
banish these thoughts from your mind, and never communicate, 
us from yourself or any one else, a sentiment of the like nature. 
I am etc. 

Newbuvg Arid reuses, — In March, 1783, before Congress had taken any 
satisfactory action in relation to the claims of the army, anonymous addresses were 
circulated, with the view apparently to inflame the minds of the soldiers, and lead to 
Mirh violent action on their part as would have compelled a compliance with their 
demands. The author of these addresses was Major John Armstrong, Jr., a 
yonng officer, who served as aide-de-camp to General Gates; and it afterwards 
appeared that his only object was to quicken Congress to do justice to the sol- 
dier.-. Had it not been for the wisdom and tact of Washington, however, their 
circulation might have led to the most disastrous consequences. The following 
is the first of these addresses : 

Address to the Army. 

1. A fellow-soldier, whose interests and affections hind him 
strongly to yon, whose past sufferings have been as great, and 
whose future fortunes may be as desperate, as yours, would beg 
leave to address you. Age has its claims, and rank is not with- 
out its pretensions to advise; but although unsupported by 
both, he Hatters himself that the plain language of sincerity 
and experience will neither be unheard nor unregarded. 

2. Like many of you, he loved private life, and left it with 
regret. He left it, determined to retire from the field with the 
necessity that called him to it, and not till then — not till the 
enemies of his country, the slaves of power and the hirelings 
of injustice, were compelled to abandon their schemes, and ac- 



1*81.1 American Revolution. 2i5 

knowledge America as terrible in arms as she had been humble 
in remonstrance. With this object in view, he has long shared 
in your toils and mingled in your dangers — he has felt the cold 
hand of poverty without a murmur, and has seen the insolence 
of wealth without a sigh. But too much under the direction 
of his wishes, and sometimes weak enough to mistake desire 
for opinion, he has, till lately, very lately, believed in the justice 
of his country. He hoped that, as the clouds of adversity scat- 
tered, and as the sunshine of peace and better fortune broke in 
upon us, the coldness and severity of government would relax ? 
and that more than justice, that gratitude, would blaze forth 
upon those hands which had upheld her in the darkest stages 
of her passage from impending servitude to acknowledged 
independence. 

3. But faith has its limits, as well as temper ; and there are 
points beyond which neither can be stretched without sinking 
into cowardice or plunging into credulity. This, my friends, I 
conceive to be your si'uition — hurried to the very verge of 
both, another step would ruin you forever. To be tame and 
unprovoked, w T hen ing ies press hard upon you, is more than 
weakness ; but to loot up for kinder usage without one manly 
eifort of your own, would fix your character, and show the 
world how richly you deserve those chains you broke. To 
guard against this evil, let us take a view of the ground upon 
which we now stand, and from thence carry our thoughts for- 
ward, for a moment, into the unexplored field of expedient. 

4. After a pursuit of seven "long years, the object for which 
w^e set out is at length brought within our reach. Yes, my 
friends, that suffering courage of yours w r as active once ; it has 
conducted the United States of America through a doubtful 
and bloody war — it has placed her in the chair of independence-, 
and peace returns again to bless — whom ? A country willing to 
redress your w r rongs, cherish your worth, and reward your ser- 
vices? A country courting your return to private life with 
tears of gratitude and smiles of admiration ? Longing to 
divide with you that independency which your gallantry has 
given, and those riches w r hich your swords have preserved ? Is 

10 



216 The United States Reader. [itsi. 

this the case? Or is it, rather, a country that tramples upon 
your rights, disdains your cries, and insults your distresses? 

5. Have you not more than once suggested your wishes, and 
made known your wants to Congress (wants and wishes which 
gratitude and policy should have anticipated, rather than have 
evaded), and have you not lately, in the meek language of 
entreating memorials, begged from their justice what you could 
no longer expect from their favor? How have you been 
answered ? Let the letter which you are called upon to con- 
sider to-morrow make reply! 

6. If this, then, be your treatment, while the swords you 
wear are necessary for the defense of America, what have you to 
expect from peace, when your voice shall sink, and your strength 
dissipate by division — when those very swords, the instruments 
and companions of your glory, shall be taken from your sides, 
and no remaining mark of military distinction be left but your 
wants, infirmities, and fears? Can you then consent to be the 
only sufferers by this revolution, and, retiring from the field, 
grow old in poverty, wretchedness, and contempt? Can you 
consent to wade through the vile mire of dependency, and owe 
the miserable remnant of that life to charity, which has hith- 
erto bei-n spent in honor ? 

7. If you can, go, and carry with you the jest of tories and 
the scorn of whigs; the ridicule, and, what is worse, the pity of 
the world! Go, starve and be forgotten! But if your spirits 
should revolt at this, if you have sense enough to discover, and 
s] tii-it sufficient to oppose tyranny, under whatever garb it may 
assume — whether it be the plain coat of republicanism or the 
splendid robe of royalty; if you have yet learned to discrim- 
inate between a people and a cause — between men and princi- 
ples—awake, attend to your situation, and redress yourselves ! 

8. If the present moment be lost, every future effort is in 
vain; your threats then will be as empty as your entreaties 
now. I would advise you, therefore, to come to some final 
opinion of what you can bear and what you will suffer. If 
your determination be in any proportion to your wrongs, 
cany your appeal from the justice to the fears of government. 



1781.] American Revolution. 21 J 

Change the milk-and-water style of your last memorial. As- 
sume a bolder tone, decent but lively, spirited, and determined ; 
and suspect the man who would advise you to moderation, and 
longer forbearance. Let two or three men, who can feel as 
well as write, be appointed to draw up your last remonstrance 
(for I would no longer give it the suing, soft, unsuccessful 
epithet of memorial). Let it represent, in language that will 
neither dishonor you by its rudeness, nor betray you by its 
fears, what has been promised by Congress, and what has been 
performed; — how long and how patiently you have suffered, 
how little you have asked, and how much of that little has 
been denied. 

9. Tell them, that though you were the first, and would wish 
to be the last, to encounter danger, — though despair itself can 
never drive you into dishonor, it may drive you from the field ; 
that the wound, often irritated and never healed, may at length 
become incurable, and that the slightest mark of indignity 
from Congress now must operate like the grave, and part you 
forever ; that, in any political event, the army has its alterna- 
tive,— if peace, that uothing shall separate you from your arms 
but death ; if war, that, courting the auspices and inviting the 
direction, of your illustrious leader, you will retire to some yet 
unsettled country, smile in your turn, "and mock when their 
fear cometh on." But let it represent, also, that should they 
comply with the request of your late memorial, it would make 
you more happy, and them more respectable ; that while the 
war should continue, you would follow their standard in the 
field, and that when it came to an encl, you would withdraw 
into the shade of private life, and give the world another 
subject of wonder and applause — an army victorious over its 
enemies — victorious over itself. 

[The address was accompanied by a call for a meeting of the general and 
field officers of the army, to " consider the late letter from our representatives in 
Philadelphia, and what measure (if any) should be adopted, to obtain that 
redress of grievances which they seem to have solicited in vain.''" This call and 
address led to the publication of an order from Washington, disapproving of 
" such disorderly proceedings," and summoning the officers to assemble at a 






2i8 The United States Reader. [i78i. 

stated time, to hear the report of the Committee of the Army to Congress. In 
pursuance of this call, a meeting was held, and there was a full attendance of 
officers. The following is an extract from the address delivered by Washington 
on that occasion.] 

Washington's Address to the Officers of the Army. 

1. As I was among the first who embarked in the cause of 
our common country; as I have never left your side one 
moment, but when called from you on public duty; as I have 
been the constant companion and witness of your distresses, 
and not among the last to feel and acknowledge your merits ; 
as I have ever considered my own military reputation as 
inseparably connected with that of the army; as my heart has 
ever expanded with joy when I have heard its praises, and my 
indignation has arisen when the mouth of detraction has been 
opened against it — it can scarcely be supposed, at this last stage 
of the war, that I am indifferent to its interests. 

2. But how are they to be promoted? The way is plain, 
Bays the anonymous addresser. "If war continues, remove 
into thf unsettled country; there establish yourselves, and 
leave an ungrateful country to defend itself." But whom are 
they to defend? Our wives, our children, our farms, and 
other property which we leave behind us? Or, in this state of 
hostile separation, are we to take the two first (the latter 
cannot be removed) to perish in a wilderness, with hunger, 
cold, and nakedness? 

3. " If peace takes place, never sheathe your swords," says he, 
" until you have obtained full and ample justice." This dread- 
ful alternative of either deserting our country in the extremest 
hour of her distress, or turning our arms against it — which 
is the apparent object, unless Congress can be compelled into 
instant compliance, — has something so shocking in it, that 
humanity revolts at the idea. My God! what can this writer 
have in view by recommending such measures? Can he be a 
friend to the army ? Can he be a friend to the country ? 
Rather, is he not an insidious foe? Some emissary, perhaps, 
from New York, plotting the ruin of both, by sowing the seeds 



i78i.] American Revolution. 219 

of discord and separation between the civil and military powers 
of the continent? And what a compliment does he pay to 
our understandings, when he recommends measures, in either 
alternative, impracticable in their nature 

4. There might, gentlemen, be an impropriety in my tak- 
ing notice, in this address to you, of an anonymous production ; 
' but the manner in which that performance has been intro- 
duced to the army, the effect it was intended to have, together 
with some other circumstances, will amply justify my observa- 
tions on the tendency of that writing. With respect to the 
advice given by the author, to suspect the man who shall re- 
commend moderate measures and longer forbearance, I spurn 
it ; as every man who regards the liberty and reveres the justice 
for which we contend, undoubtedly must; for, if men are to be 
precluded from offering their sentiments on a matter which 
may involve the most serious and alarming consequences that 
can invite the consideration of mankind, reason is of no use to 
us ; the freedom of speech may be taken away, and, dumb and 
silent, we may be led like sheep to the slaughter 

5. Let me request you to rely on the plighted faith of your 
country, and place a full confidence in the purity of the inten- 
tions of Congress, that, previous to your dissolution as an army, 
they will cause all your accounts to be fairly liquidated, as 
directed in the resolutions which were published to you two 
days ago, and that they will adopt the most effectual measures 
in their power, to render ample justice to you for your faithful 
and meritorious services. And let me conjure you, in the name 
of our common country, as you value your own sacred honor, 
as you respect the rights of humanity, and as you regard the 
military and national character of America, to express your ut- 
most horror and detestation of the man who wishes, under any 
specious pretenses, to overturn the liberties of our country, and 
who wickedly attempts to open the flood-gates of civil discord, 
and deluge our rising empire in blood. 

6. By thus determining and thus acting, you will pursue the 
plain and direct road to the attainment of your wishes ; you 
will defeat the insidious designs of our enemies, who are com- 






220 The United States Reader. [i?8i. 

pelled to resort from open force to secret artifice; you will give 
one more distinguished proof of unexampled patriotism and 
patient virtue rising superior to the pressure of the most com- 
plicated sufferings; and you will, by the dignity of your con- 
duct, afford occasion for posterity to say, when speaking of the 
glorious example you have exhibited to mankind, " Had this 
day been wanting, the world had never seen the last stage of per- 
fection to which human nature is capable of attaining." 

[After reading this address, Washington immediately retired, and left the officers to 
their free deliberations. At the close of a very brief conference, they unanimously adopted 
resolutions, thanking their commander for the course he had pursued, and adopting the 
views which lie had expressed. General Gales presided over this interesting meeting. 
A statement of all these proceedings was transmitted to Congress, and entered in full 
on its journals.] 

IHsbandment of the Army. — In conformity with general orders of 
Congress, the army was disbanded on the 3d of November, 1783; and on the 
2")th of the same month, Sir Guy Carle-ton, who had succeeded Sir Henry 
Clinton, evacuated New York. After the retirement of the British from the 
city, Washington met his officers there, and, " with a heart full of love and 
gratitude," took leave of them. 

Retirement of Washington, — Washington then repaired to Anna- 
polis, where Congress was in session, and, on the 23d of December, 1783, 
resigned to that body his commission as commander-in-chief. He then hastened 
to his home at Mount Vernon, where, in the retirement of private life, he hoped 
to s j tend the remainder of his days. 

Washington Resigning his Commission. — Ramsay. 

1. The hour now approached in which it became necessary 
for the American chief to take leave of his officers, who had 
been endeared to him by a long series of common sufferings 
and dangers. This was done in a solemn manner. The officers 
having previously assembled for the purpose, General Washing- 
ton joined them, and, calling for a glass of wine, thus addressed 
them : " With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take 
leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may 
he as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been 
glorious and honorable." Having drank, he added, "I cannot 
come to each of you to take my leave, but shall be obliged to 
you if each of you will come and take me by the hand." 

2. General Knox, being next, turned to him. Incapable of 



A 



i78i.] The Revolution. 



utterance, Washington grasped his hand, and embraced him. 
The officers came up successively, and he took an affectionate 
leave of each of them. Not a word was articulated on either 
side. A majestic silence prevailed. The tear of sensibility 
glistened in every eye. The tenderness of the scene exceeded 
all description. 

3. When the last of the officers had taken his leave, Wash- 
ington left the room, and passed through the corps of light- 
infantry to the place of embarkation. The officers followed in 
a solemn, mute procession, with dejected countenances. On 
his entering the barge to cross the North Kiver, he turned 
toward the companions of his glory, and by waving his hat 
bid them a silent adieu. Some of them answered this last sig- 
nal of respect and affection with tears ; and all of them gazed 
upon the barge which conveyed him from their sight, till they 
could no longer distinguish in it the person of their beloved 
commander-in-chief. 

4. The army being disbanded, Washington proceeded to 
Annapolis, then the seat of Congress, to resign his commission. 
On his way thither, he of his own accord delivered to the 
comptroller of accounts in Philadelphia an account of the ex- 
penditures of all the public money he had ever received. This 
was in his own hand- writing, and every entry was made in a 
very particular manner. Vouchers were produced for every 
item, except for secret intelligence and services, which amounted 
to no more than £1,982 10s. sterling. The whole which, in the 
course of eight years of war, had passed through his hands, 
amounted only to £14,479 18s. 9d. sterling. Nothing was 
charged or retained for personal services ; and actual disburse- 
ments had been managed with such economy and fidelity, that 
they were all covered by the above moderate sum. 

5. After accounting for all his expenditures of public money 
(secret service money, for obvious reasons, excepted), with 
all the exactness which established forms required from the 
inferior officers of his army, he hastened to resign into the 
hands of the fathers of his country the powers with which 
they had invested him. This was done in a public audience. 



\ 



222 The United States Reader. [i78i. 

Congress received him as the founder and guardian of the 
republic. 

6. While he appeared before them, they silently retraced the 
scenes of danger and distress through which they had passed 
together. They recalled to mind the blessings of freedom imd 
peace purchased by his arm. They gazed with wonder on their 
fellow-citizen, who appeared more great and worthy of esteem 
in resigning his power than he had done in gloriously using 
it. Every heart was big with emotion. Tears of admiration 
and gratitude burst from every eye. The general sympathy was 
felt by the resigning hero, and wet his cheek with a manly 
tear 

7. His own sensations, after retiring from public business, 
are thus expressed in his letters: "I am just beginning to expe- 
rience the ease and freedom from public cares, which, however 
desirable, it takes some time to realize; for, strange as it may 
seem, it is nevertheless true, that it was not until lately I could 
gel tie 1 better of my usual custom of ruminating, as soon as I 
woke in the morning, on the business of the ensuing day; and 
of my surprise on finding, after revolving many things in my 
mind, that I was no longer a public man, or had anything to 
do with public transactions. 

8. " I feel as I conceive a wearied traveller must do, who, 
after treading many a painful step with a heavy burden on his 
shoulders, is eased of the latter, having reached the haven to 
which all the former were directed, and from his housetop is 
looking back, and tracing with an eager eye the meanders by 
which he escaped the quicksands and mires which lay in his 
way. and into which none but the all-powerful Guide and 
Dispenser of human events could have prevented his falling." 
— Life of Wash ing ton. 

Eminent Statesmen of the Revolution. — Sparks. 

1. The acts of the Revolution derive dignity and interest 
from the character of the actors, and the nature and magnitude 
of the events. It has been remarked, that, in all great political 
revolutions, men have arisen possessed of extraordinary endow- 



i78i.] The Revolution. 223 

ments, adequate to the exigency of the time; and no period 
has been adorned with examples more illustrious, or more per- 
fectly adapted to the high destiny awaiting them, than that of 
the American Kevolution. 

2. Statesmen were at hand, who, if not skilled in the art of 
governing empires, were thoroughly imbued with the principles 
of just government, intimately acquainted with the history of 
former ages, and, above all, with the condition, sentiments, 
and feelings of their countrymen. The eloquence and the in- 
ternal counsels of the old Congress were never recorded ; we 
know them only in their results ; but that assembly, with no 
other power than that conferred by the suffrages of the people, 
with no other influence than that of their public virtue and 
talents, and without precedent to guide their deliberations, un- 
supported, even by the arm of law or of ancient usages, — that 
assembly levied troops, imposed taxes, and, for years, not only 
retained the confidence and upheld the civil existence of a 
distracted country, but carried through a perilous war under 
its most aggravating burdens of sacrifice and suffering. 

3. Can we imagine a situation in which were required higher 
moral courage, more intelligence and talent, a deeper insight 
into human nature and the principles of social and political 
organization, or, indeed, any of those qualities which consti- 
tute greatness of character in a statesman ? See, likewise, that 
work of wonder, the Confederation, a Union of independent 
States, constructed in the very heat of a desolating war, but 
with a beauty and strength, imperfect as it was, of which the 
ancient leagues of the Amphictyons, the Achseans, the Lycians, 
and the modern confederacies of Germany, and Switzerland, 
afford neither exemplar 7 nor parallel! 

4. Happy was it for America, happy for the world, that a 
great name, a guardian genius, presided over her destinies in 
war, combining more than the virtues of the Eoman Fabius 
and the Theban Epaminondas ; and compared with whom, the 
conquerors of the world, the Alexanders and Caesars, are but 
pageants crimsoned with blood, and decked with the trophies 
of slaughter, — objects equally of the wonder and of the execra- 

10* 






224 The United States Reader. [its*. 

tion of mankind. The hero of America was the conqueror 
only of his country's foes, and the hearts of his countrymen. 
To the one, lie was a terror ; and, in the other, he gained an 
ascendency, supreme, unrivalled, — the tribute of admiring grati- 
tude, the reward of a nation's love. — Life of Washington. 

Mount Vernon.— Bev. Wm. Jay. 

Tiiere dwelt the Man, the flower of human kind, 
Whose visage mild bespoke his noble mind ; 
There dwelt the Soldier, who his sword ne'er drew 
But in a righteous cause, to Freedom true; 
There dwelt the Ilero, who ne'er fought for fame, 
Yet gained more glory than a Caesar's name; 
There dwelt the Statesman, who, devoid of art, 
(lave soundest counsels from an upright heart; 
And oh, Columbia, by thy sons caressed, 
There dwelt the Father of the realms he blessed, 
Who no wish felt to make his mighty praise, 
Like other chiefs, the means himself to raise; 
Bui there retiring, breathed in pure renown, 
And fell a grandeur that disdained a crown. 

Weakness of the Confederacy, — It was found that, by the Arti- 

( LBS OF COHFBDERATIOIT, under which the United States had existed since 
17M, Congress had no power to raise money and pay the debts incurred hy the 
war. The individual States were therefore called upon for funds; but their 
efforts to raise them by direct taxation produced great opposition, especially 
in Massachusetts, where it grew to an open insurrection, known as Shays's 
Rebellion. This, however, was suppressed in 1787. 

Adoption of the Constitution. — This rebellion and other circum- 
stances convinced the people that a more powerful general government was needed. 
Accordingly, a national convention was held at Philadelphia, with Washington 
a< president, and after four months' deliberation, the Constitution* was 
adopted, September 17th, 1787. After being ratified by the requisite number 
of States, though not without great opposition, it went into operation on the 
4th of March, 1789. 

Insufficiency of the Confederation.— Hamilton. 

1 . Oxe of the most palpable defects of the subsisting confeder- 
ation, is the total want of a sanction* to its laws. The United 
States, as now (1787) composed, have no powers to exact obedi- 
ence, or punish disobedience to their resolutions, either by pecuni- 



1787.] The Revolution. 2 25 

ary mulcts', by a suspension or divestiture' of privileges, or by 
any other constitutional mode. There is no express delegation of 
authority to them to use force against delinquent members; 
and if such a right should be ascribed to the Federal head, as 
resulting from the nature of the social compact between the 
States, it must be by inference and construction, in the face of 
that part of the second article, by which it is declared, "that 
each State should retain every power, jurisdiction, and right, 
not co:j)ressJy delegated to the United States in Congress 
assembled." 

2. There is, doubtless, a striking absurdity in supposing that 
a right of this kind does not exist; but we are reduced to the 
diiemma v either of embracing that supposition, preposterous v as 
it may seem, or of contravening or explaining away a provision, 
which has been of late a repeated theme of the eulogies of those 
who oppose the new Constitution ; and the want of which, in 
that plan, has been the snbject of much plausible animadver- 
sion and severe criticism. 

3. If we are unwilling to impair the force of this applauded 
provision, we shall -be obliged to conclude, that the United 
States afford the extraordinary spectacle of a government 
destitute even of the shadow of constitutional power to enforce 
the execution of its own laws. It will appear, from the speci- 
mens which have been cited^ that the American Confederacy, 
in this particular, stands discriminated from every other in- 
stitution of a similar kind, and exhibits a new and unexampled 
phenomenon v in the political world. 

4. The want of a mutual guaranty v of the State Governments 
is another capital imperfection in the Federal plan. There is 
nothing of this kind declared in the Articles that compose it; 
and to imply a tacit guaranty from consideration of utility, 
would be a still more flagrant departure from the clause which 
has been mentioned, than to imply a tacit power of coercion' 
from the like considerations. The want of a guaranty, though 
it might in its consequences endanger the Union, does not so 
immediately attack its existence, as the want of a constitutional 
sanction to its laws. 






226 The United States Reader. [17S7. 

5. Without a guaranty, the assistance to be derived from the 
Union in repelling those domestic dangers which may some- 
times threaten the existence of the State Constitutions, must 
be renounced. Usurpation may rear its crest in each State, 
and trample upon the liberties of the people; while the Ra- 
tional Government could legally do nothing more than behold 
its encroachments with indignation and regret. A successful 
faction may erect a tyranny on the ruins of order and law, 
while no succor could constitutionally be afforded by the Union 
to the friends and supporters of the Government. 

6. The tempestuous situation from which Massachusetts has 
scarcely emerged, evinces that dangers of this kind are not 
merely speculative. Who can determine what might have been 
the issue of her late convulsions, if the malcontents v had been 
headed by a Oaesar or by a Cromwell? Who can predict what 
effecl a despotism, established in Massachusetts, would have 
upon the Liberties of New Hampshire or Rhode Island, of 
Connecticut or New York? — The Federalist. 

Motion for Prayers in the Convention. — Franklin. 

['I'lir Following address was delivered by Dr. Franklin in the Constitutional Conven- 
tion <.f 1787.] 

1. Mr. President: The small progress we have made after 
four or live weeks' close attendance and continued reasonings 
with one another; our different sentiments on almost every 
question, several of the last producing as many noes as ayes, 
are. methinks, melancholy proofs of the imperfection of the 
human understanding. We, indeed, seem to feel our own want 
of political wisdom, since we have heen running all ahout in 
search of it. We have gone back to ancient history for models 
of government, and examined the different forms of those 
republics which, having been formed with the seeds of their 
own dissolution, now no longer exist. And we have viewed 
modern states all around Europe, but find none of their consti- 
tutions suitable to our circumstances. In this situation of this 
assembly, groping, as it were, in the dark, to find political 
truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, 



1787.] The Revolution. 227 

how lias it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once 
thought of humbly applying to the Father of Lights, to illu- 
minate our understandings? In the beginning of the contest 
with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had 
daily prayers in this room for divine protection. Our prayers, 
sir, were heard, and. they were graciously answered. 

2. All of us who were engaged, in the struggle must have 
observed, frequent instances of a superintending Providence in 
our favor. To that kind Providence we owe this happy oppor- 
tunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our 
future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that 
powerful Friend, or do we imagine that we no longer need His 
assistance ? - 

3. I have lived, sir, a long time ; and the longer I live the 
more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs 
in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the 
ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can 
rise without his aid ? We have been assured, sir, in the Sacred 
Writings, that " except the Lord build the house, they labor in 
vain who build it." 

4. I firmly believe this; and I also believe that, without His 
concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no 
better than the builders of Babel ; we shall be divided by our 
little, partial, local interests; our projects will be confounded; 
and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a by-word down 
to future ages. And, what is worse, mankind may hereafter, 
from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing govern- 
ments by human wisdom, and leave it to chance, war, and 
conquest. 

5. I therefore beg leave to move, that henceforth, prayers, im- 
ploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our delib- 
erations, be held in this assembly every morning before we 
proceed to business; and that one or more of the clergy of 
this city be requested to officiate in that service. 

" The motion was evaded by an adjournment. It was feared, according to Madison, 
lest prayers for the first time, at that late day, might alarm the public, by giving an im- 
pression that matters were already desperate 1 '— Hildreth. 



228 The United States Reader. [itso. 

Election of President anil Vice-President. — The first elec- 
tion for President of the United States resulted in the choice of George 
Washington, who received the whole number of electoral votes. At the same 
time John Adams, of Massachusetts, -was elected Vice-President. New York 
was then the capital ; and in that city Washington appeared before the first 
constitutional Congress, and was inaugurated on the 30th of April, 1789. 



SECTIOX V. 
The Nation. 

Inauguration of Washington. — Hildreth. 

1. From the moment it had become certain that the Consti- 
tution was to go into effect, Washington had been very warmly 
pressed by numerous correspondents not to decline that post, 
for which lie was so singularly qualified by the choice and the 
confidence of the entire nation. The general expectation that 
he would be president had contributed not a little to calm 
down the excitement against the new Constitution, and to give 
to its friends so decided a predominance' in the choice of mem- 
bers of the first Congress. Fortunate, indeed, it was for the 
nation to possess, at this crisis of its fate, a man not only fit to 
fill the office of president, but one in whose fitness the whole 
people were agreed 

2. Washington desired to proceed to Kew York in the most 
private manner, but the flow of veneration and gratitude could 
not be suppressed. Having been entertained at a public din- 
ner by his neighbors of Alexandria, he was welcomed to Mary- 
land by a collection of citizens assembled at Georgetown. At 
the frontier of Pennsylvania he was met by a large escort, 
headed by Mifflin, recently elected president of that State, to 
whom it thus again fell, to be the instrument of paying honors 
to the man he had once wronged. A magnificent reception 
and a splendid entertainment were prepared at Philadelphia, 



1789.] The Nation. 229 

where the Executive Council, the trustees of the University, 
the judges of the Supreme Court, the officers of the Cin- 
cinnati,* and the mayor and common council of the city, 
hastened to wait on the president elect with their congratula- 
tions. 

3. Ascending the left bank of the Delaware, Washington 
crossed the next day into New Jersey. The people of Trenton 
remembered the battles fought in their neighborhood twelve 
years before, and if his reception at other places was more 
splendid, nowhere was it so graceful and touching. On the 
bridge across the Assumpink, which flows through the town 
into the Delaware — the same bridge across which Washington 
had retreated before Cornwallis's army on the eve of the battle 
of Princeton — a triumphal arch had been erected, supported on 
thirteen pillars, twined with evergreens, floAvers, and laurel. 

4. Beneath this arch, which bore for inscription " The De- 
fender of the Mothers will be the Protector of the Daughters," 
were assembled a party of matrons, mixed with young girls 
dressed in white, and holding baskets of flowers in their hands. 
As Washington approached they began to sing a little ode pre- 
pared for the occasion: 

Welcome, mighty chief, once more ; 
Welcome to this grateful shore ; 
Now no mercenary foe 
Aims again the fatal blow, 
Aims at thee the fatal blow. 

Virgins fair and matrons grave, 
Those thy conquering arm did save, 
Build for thee triumphal bowers ; 
Strew, ye fair, his way with flowers ! 
Strew your hero's way with flowers. 

Suiting the action to the words, they ended the chant in strew- 
ing their flowers before him. 

* The "Society of the Cincinnati " was an association formed by some of tbe officers of the army 
a short time before it was disbanded, at Xewburg, in 17S3. Its objects were, to cultivate friendship 
among themselves., to commemorate the events in which they had been engaged in the great struggle 
just closed, to promote the cause of free government in the country, and to afford benevolent assist- 
ance to such of their members as might need it. Washington was elected the first president. 



230 The United States Reader. [1789. 

5. 1 Living crossed New Jersey, Washington was received at 
Elizabethtown Point early in the morning, in accordance with 
a previous arrangement, hy a committee of both Houses of 
Congress, with whom were Jay, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 
Genera] Knox, Secretary of War, Samuel Osgood, Arthur Lee, 
and Walter Livingston, Commissioners of the Treasury, and 
Ebenezer Hazard, Postmaster-General, then heads of depart- 
ments, still continuing to act under their appointments from 
the Continental Congress, until new arrangements could be 
made. 

6. A barge splendidly fitted up, and manned by thirteen 
pilots in white uniforms, had been provided to convey the 
president to New York; and quite a naval procession was 
formed out of a multitude of other boats and barges. After a 
voyage of several hours, the approach to New York was wel- 
comed by artillery salutes from the battery and the ships in the 
harbor. At the landing-place at the foot of AVall-street, ap- 
propriately decorated for the occasion, Governor Clinton was 
in waiting, with the principal State officers and those of the 
city corporation, and a vast concourse of citizens. 

7. A procession, headed by a numerous detachment of the 
city militia, having been formed under a salute of cannon, the 
president elect was escorted to the house lately occupied by the 
President of the Continental Congress, and which the new 
Federal Congress had ordered to be fitted up for his reception. 
Thence he proceeded to Governor Clinton's, where he was enter- 
tained at dinner. The evening closed with a brilliant display 
of fireworks. 

8. As the new Federal Hall was not yet entirely finished, a 
week elapsed before preparations were completed for administer- 
ing to the president elect the oath of office. The place selected 
for that purpose was the outer gallery or balcony of the Senate 
Chamber,* visible for a long distance down Broad-street, which 
it fronted, thus affording opportunity to witness the ceremony 
to a large number of eager spectators. At nine o'clock all the 

* The United States Treasury building now occupies the Bite. 



1789.] The Nation, 231 

churches in the city were opened for prayer and religions 
services. A little after noon, the president elect left his house, 
escorted by the city cavalry, and attended by a committee of 
Congress and the heads of departments in carriages, followed 
by the two or three resident foreign ministers, and by a long 
procession of citizens. 

9. Having entered the Senate Chamber, where the two Houses 
were assembled to receive him, he was conducted to an elevated 
seat at the head of the room. After a momentary silence, all 
being seated, the vice-president rose and stated to the president 
elect that all was ready for the administration of the oath, 
whenever he was prepared to receive it. Upon this intimation, 
Washington proceeded to the balcony, followed by the senators 
and representatives. The oatli was administered by the Chan- 
cellor of Xew York, Robert E. Livingston, Jay's predecessor as 
Secretary for Foreign Affairs. As he finished the ceremony, he 
exclaimed aloud, " Long live George "Washington, President of 
the United States!" to which the assembled multitude re- 
sponded in long and enthusiastic shouts. — History of the 
Un it eel States. 

The Launching of the Ship. — Longfellow. 

[In these lines the poet graphically describes the launching of a ship, to which he 
compares the commencement of our national government — the completion of the 
Union— the launching of the Ship of State.] 

All is finished! and at length 

Has come the bridal day 

Of beauty and of strength. 

To-day the vessel shall be launched ! 

"With fleecy clouds the sky is blanched, 

And o'er the bay, 

Slowly, in all his splendors dight v _ 

The great sun rises to behold the sight. 

The ocean old, — centuries old, 
Strong as youth, and as uncontrolled, 
Paces restless to and fro, 
Up and down the sands of gold. 






232 The United States Reader. [i?8D, 

His beating heart is not at rest ; 

And far and wide, 

With ceaseless How, 

His beard of snow 

J leaves with the heaving of his breast. 

He waits impatient for his bride. 

There she stands, 

With her foot upon the sands, 

Decked with flairs and streamers gay, 

In honor of her marriage-day, 

Her snow-white signals fluttering, blending, 

Round her like a veil descending, 

Read}' to be 

The bride of the gray old sea. 

Then the Master, 

With a gesture of command, 

Waved his hand ; 

And at the word, 

Loud and sudden there was heard, 

All around them and below, 

The sound of hammers, blow on blow, 

Knocking away the shores and spurs. 

And see ! she stirs! 

She starts,— she moves,— she seems to feel 

The thrill of life along her keel, 

And spurning with her foot the ground, 

With one exulting, joyous bound 

She leaps into the ocean's arms ! 

And lo ! from the assembled crowd 

There rose a shout prolonged and loud, 

That to the ocean seemed to say, 

" Take her, O bridegroom, old and gray ; 

Take her to th} r protecting arms, 

"With all her youth and all her charms." 

Sail forth into the sea, O ship ! 

Through Mind and wave, right onward steer! 

The moistened eye, the trembling lip, 

Are not the signs of doubt or fear. 

Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State ! 
Sail on, O Union, strong and great! 



1789.] The Nation. 233 

Humanity, with all its fears, 
With all its hopes of future years, 
Is hanging breathless on thy fate! 
We know what Master laid thy keel, 
What workmen wrought thy ribs of steel, 
Who made each mast, and sail, and rope, 
What anvils rang, what hammers beat, 
In what a forge, and what a heat, 
Were shaped the anchors of thy hope. 

Fear not each sudden sound and shock ; 

'Tis of the wave, and not the rock ; 

'Tis but the flapping of the sail, 

And not a rent made by the gale. 

In spite of rock and tempest roar, 

In spite of false lights on the shore, 

Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea; 

Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee. 

Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, 

Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, 

Are all with thee — are all Avith thee. 

Washington's Administration. — The First Cabinet. — Con- 
gress having created three executive departments, — of State, Treasury, and War, 
— the heads of which were to form the President's cabinet, Washington ap- 
pointed Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, Secretary of State ; Alexander Hamilton 
of New York, Secretary of the Treasury; and Henry Knox of Massachusetts, 
Secretary of War. Hamilton, by his wise measures and judicious management, 
placed the public finances in a good condition; and, upon his recommendation, 
the debts of the States, contracted during the war, were assumed by the general 
government. 

Additional States. — Washington's administration began with only 
eleven States in the Union, Rhode Island and North Carolina not having ratified 
the Constitution. These States, however, soon ascertained that their interests 
required that they should not keep aloof from the national compact, and they 
accepted its provisions; North Carolina, in November, 1789, and Rhode Island 
in June, 1790. In 1791, Vermont* was admitted, being the first new State. 
Kentuckyf became a State in 1792, and Tennessee}: in 1796. 

Death of Franklin.— Among the notable events of this period was the 
death of Benjamin Franklin — the philanthropist, patriot, and philosopher 

* Vermont derived its name from its principal range of mountains. The word is from the French 
words, vert, green, and monts, mountains. 

t The Indians called tlie region Kentucky, because it had been the scene of savage warfare, the 
word, kentucky, meaning the dark and Moody ground. 

$ " The name of Tennessee is derived from Tannassee (meaning, river of the big bend), the Indian 
name applied to the Little Tennessee River." 



\ 



234 The United States Reader. [1789. 

(April 17th, 1790). This illustrious man was born at Boston in 1706, and, 
consequently, at his death, was eighty-four years of age. He was the son of a 
tallow-chandler, and in his autobiography he thus speaks of his early occupa- 
tions : "At ten years of age I was called home to assist my father in his 
occupation, which was that of a soap-boiler and tallow-chandler, — a business 
to which he had served no apprenticeship, but which he embraced on his arrival 
in New En -land, because he found his own, that of dyer, in too little request to 
enable him t<> maintain his family. I was accordingly employed in cutting the 
wicks, filling the moulds, taking care of the shop, carrying messages, etc/' 
Allusion has already been made to his connection with some of the most im- 
portant events of the history of the country. His services as an ambassador to 
Trance during the devolution were peculiarly effective and valuable. 

Last Hours of Dr Franklin.— Yarton. 

1. II is anguish was such, at times, that a groan escaped 
him, for which he would offer a kind of apology to those who 
stood around his bed. He said lie feared he did not bear 
his pain as In- ought, and that, no doubt, his present sufferings 
were designed to wean him from a world in which he was no 
Longer competent to ad his part. To a clerical friend who wit- 

I one of his paroxysms, and was about to retire, he said, 
"Oh, no; don't go away. These pains will soon be over. They 
arc lor my good; and, besides, what are the pains of a moment 
in comparison with the pleasures of eternity?" 

2. lie had a picture of Christ on the Cross placed so that he 
could conveniently look at it as he lay in bed. "That," he 
would say, "is the picture of One who came into the world to 
teach men to love one another." His anguish was not con- 
tinuous; there were hours in which he conversed cheerfully 
with his friends, and attended to the requests of visitors. Nine 
days before he died, he wrote a letter of some length to Mr. 
Jefferson, in which he gave certain information desired by 
Jefferson respecting our northeastern boundary, as defined in 
the negotiations at Paris in 1783. The letter is written with 
all his wonted clearness and obliging fullness of detail, showing 
memory and other faculties of mind still unimpaired. 

3. Five days before his death, the pain in the chest, the 
cough, and the difficulty of breathing, suddenly ceased. His 



1790.] The Nation. 235 

family hoped now that the crisis was passed, and that he would 
recover ; but he was not himself deceived. He insisted 011 get- 
ting up that his bed might be made, in order, as he said, that 
he might " die in a decent manner." His daughter said that 
she hoped he would get well, and live many years. " I hope 
not," he replied 

4. Some one advising him to change his position so that he 
might breathe easier, he said, "A dying man can do nothing 
easy." These were the last of his words that have been recorded. 
He soon sunk into a lethargy from -which he never revived. At 
eleven o'clock at night, April 17, 1790, surrounded by his 
family and nearest friends, he quietly expired, aged eighty-four 
years, three months, and eleven days. 

5. His last look, it is recorded, was cast upon the picture of 
Christ. He died with his eyes fixed upon it. His countenance 
recovered,, at once, all its wonted serenity and benignity, and 
he lay like a good old man in a gentle slumber. To use the 
ancient language, he had fallen asleep in Jesus, and rested in 
hope of a blessed immortality. — Life and Times of Benjamin 
Franklin. 

Eulogy on Franklin. — Mircibeau, 

[The following address was delivered by Mirabeau, then the leader of the National 
Assembly in Paris, on the announcement of the death of Franklin (June 11, 1790).] 

1. Franklin is dead ! The genius that freed America and 
poured a flood of light over Europe, has returned to the bosom 
of the Divinity. The sage whom two worlds claim as their 
own — the man for whom the history of science and the history 
of empires contend with each other — held, without doubt, a 
high rank in the human race. 

2. Too long have political cabinets taken formal note of the 
death of those who were great only in their funeral panegyrics v . 
Too long has the etiquette 7 of courts prescribed hypocritical 
mourning. Nations should wear mourning only for their bene- 
factors. The representatives of nations should recommend to 
their homage none but the heroes of humanity. 

3. The Congress has ordained, throughout the United States, 






236 The United States Reader. [1790. 

a mourning of one month for the death of Franklin, and, at 
this moment, America is paying the tribute of veneration and 
gratitude to one of the fathers of her Constitution. Would it 
not become us, gentlemen, to join in this religious act, to bear 
a part in this homage, rendered, in the face of the world, both 
to the rights of man, and to the philosopher who has most 
contributed to extend their sway over the whole earth ? 

4. Antiquity would have raised altars to this mighty genius, 
who, to the advantage of mankind, compassing in his mind 
the heavens and the earth, was able to restrain alike thunder- 
bolts and tyrants. Europe, enlightened and free, owes at least 
a token of remembrance and regret to one of the greatest men 
who have ever been engaged in the service of philosophy and of 
liberty. I propose that it be decreed that the National Assem- 
bly, during three days, shall wear mourning for Benjamin 
Franklin. 

[Several, among them Lafayette, sprang at once to second the proposal, and it was 
curried Immediately by acclamation.] 

Character of Franklin. — Mackintosh, 

1. TnE cause of the Americans in France owed part of its 
success to the peculiar character, as well as extraordinary 
talents, of their agent at Paris, Benjamin Franklin. Bred a 
printer, he had raised himself to a respectable station by the 
most ingenious industry and frugality; and, having acquired 
celebrity by his philosophical discourses, he had occupied a 
considerable office in the colonies at the commencement of the 
disturbance. 

2. This singular man long labored to avert a rupture; and, 
notwithstanding his cold and cautious character, he shed tears 
at the prospect of separation ; but he was too wise to deliberate 
after decision. Having once made his determination, he ad- 
hered to it with a firmness which neither the advances of En- 
gland nor the adversity of America could shake. He considered 
a return to the ancient friendship as impossible, and every con- 
ciliatory proposal as a snare to divide America, and to betray 
her into absolute submission. 



A 



1790.] 



The Nation, 237 



3. At Paris he was preceded and aided by his philosophical 
fame. His steady and downright character was a singularity 
which the accomplished diplomatists'' of France had not learned 
how to conquer. The simplicity of a republican, a Presbyte- 
rian, and a printer, transported at the age of seventy to the 
most polished court of Europe, by amusing the frivolous and 
interesting the romantic, excited a disposition at Versailles 
favorable to his cause. 

4. Early accustomed to contemplate infant societies and un- 
cultivated nature, his mind was original and independent. He 
derived neither aid nor encumbrance from learning, which en- 
slaves every mind not powerful to master and govern it. He 
was, therefore, exempt from those prejudices of nation and age 
which every learned education fosters. Beared in colonies 
struggling into existence, when necessity so often calls out 
ingenious contrivance, he adapted even philosophical experi- 
ment to the direct convenience of mankind. 

5. The same spirit is still more conspicuous in his moral and 
political writings. An independence of thought, a constant 
and direct reference to utility, a consequent abstinence from 
whatever is merely curious and ornamental, or even remotely 
useful, a talent for ingeniously betraying vice and prejudice 
into an admission of reason, and for exhibiting their sophisms^ 
in that state of undisguised absurdity in which they are ludi- 
crous, with a singular power of striking illustration from homely 
objects, would justify us in calling Eranklin the American 
Socrates. — Life of Sir James Mackintosh. 

Franklin and Washington.— Greeley. 

1. I thixk I adequately appreciate the greatness of Washing- 
ton ; yet I must place Franklin above him as the consummate 
type and flowering of human nature under the skies of colonial 
America. Not that Washington was born to competence and 
all needful facilities for instruction, so that he began respon- 
sible life on vantage-ground that Franklin toiled twenty 
arduous, precious years to reach : I cannot feel that this fact 
has undue weight with me. 



238 The United States Reader. [1790. 

2. I realize that there are elements of dignity, of grandeur, in the 
character of Washington for which that of Franklin affords no 
parallel. But when I contemplate the immense variety and 
versatility* of Franklin's services to his country and to mankind 
— when I think of him as a writer whose first effusions com- 
manded attention in his early boyhood — as the monitor 
and teacher of his fellow-journeymen in a London printing- 
office — as, almost from the outset, a prosperous and influential 
editor, when journalism had never before been a source of 
power — as taking his place naturally at the head of the postal 
service in America, and of the earliest attempts to form a 
practical confederation of the colonies — when I see him, never 
an enthusiast, and now, nearly fchreescore-and-ten, renouncing 
office, hazarding fame, fortune, everything, to struggle for the 
independence of his country — he having most" to lose by failure 
of any American — his only son a bitter loyalist — he cheer- 
fully and repeatedly braving tlie dangers of an ocean swarming 
with enemies, to render his country the service as ambassador 
which no other man could perform — and finally, when more 
than eighty years old, crowning a life of duty and honor by 
helping to frame that immortal Constitution which made us 
one nation forever — I cannot place Franklin second to any 
other American. 

3. He could not have done the work of Washington — no 
other man could ; but then he did so many admirable things 
which Washington had too sound judgment even to attempt. 
And, great as "Washington was, he was not great enough to 
write and print, after he had achieved power and world-wide 
fame, a frank, ingenuous confession of his youthful follies and 
sins, for the instruction and admonition of others. Many a man 
can look calmly down the throats of roaring cannon who lacks 
tli>' courage and true philanthropy essential to those called to 
render this service to mankind. — Lecture on Self -Made Men. 

Jlarmat's Expedition against the Indians. — In the summer 
of 1790 an Indian war was commenced by the tribes north of the Ohio. AYash- 
ington at first used pacific means; but, these failing, he sent an expedition, 
under Gen. Harmar, against the hostile tribes. Harmar destroyed several of 



d 



1797.] The Nation. 239 

their villages, but, in two battles, near the present village of Fort Wayne. In- 
diana, he was defeated with severe loss. 

St. Clair- S Expedition. — In the following year, St. Clair marched 
against the Indians ; but, while encamped at a place in the western part of Ohio, 
he was surprised and defeated, with the loss of six hundred men. During the 
war, Kentucky, which had been previously claimed by Virginia, was admitted 
into the Union ; and, in the same year, 1792, Washington was again elected 
president. Adams was also re-chosen vice-president. 

Wayne' 's Expedition. — Gen. Wayne was finally sent against the In- 
dians. In August, 1794, he met them near the rapids of the Mau-mee', and gained 
a complete victory. This success, followed up by vigorous measures, compelled 
the Indians to sue for peace; and, in 1795, a treaty was made at Greenville, 
Ohio, by which a large tract of territory was ceded to the United States. 

Trouble with the French Minister. — When France, during her 
great revolution, declared war against England, a large part of the people of 
this country were in favor of helping their old ally of the Revolution. M. 
Genet (zhe-na), the French minister in the United States, presuming upon the 
feeling in favor of his country, began to fit out privateers in American ports to 
cruise against British vessels. Washington, deeming it best to preserve a posi- 
tion of strict neutrality between the two countries, demanded his recall, and 
another minister was sent in his place. • 

Whisky Insurrection. — The first measure adopted by the United 
States government for raising a revenue by internal taxation, was the law of 
1791, imposing a duty on domestic liquors. It met with considerable opposition, 
especially in the Western part cf Pennsylvania, where, in 1794, the resistance 
grew to an open rebellion, known as the Whisky Insurrection. Upon the 
approach of a force sent by Washington, the insurgents yielded. 

<Tay 9 S Treaty. — It was not long after the making of the treaty of 1783, 
at the close of the Revolution, before the American and British governments 
began to accuse each other of violating its stipulations. To avert a w T ar, which 
seemed inevitable, John Jay* was sent as a special envoy to England, where, 
in 1794, a treaty was made. This new treaty met with considerable opposition 
in the United States, because its provisions were regarded as being too favorable 
to the English ; but it was at length ratified. 

Washington's Successor. — Washington, having declined a nomina- 
tion for a third term, John Adams was elected to succeed him ; and the new 
president was inaugurated at Philadelphia, on the 4th of March, 1797. Wash- 
ington then retired to the quietude of his home at Mount Vernon.t 

* John Jay was born in the city of New York, in 1715. In 1789, when Washington became Presi- 
dent of the United States, so exalted was his opinion of Jay's honesty and fitness, that he tendered 
him a choice of the offices in his gift. Jay preferred the bench, and, consequently, was the first Chief- 
Justice of the United States. His death occurred in 1829. at Bedford, Westchester Co., New York. 

t Mount Yernon, the home of Washington and the place of his burial, is situated on the western 
bank of the Potomac, fifteen miles below Washington city. The place, comprising the mansion, the 
tomb, and two hundred acres of the original estate, was sold, in 1858, by John A. Washington, a 
nephew of George Washington, to the " Ladies' Mount Yernon Association," for $200,000. " It is 
the design of the Association to hold it in perpetuity as a place of public resort and pilgrimage." 

11 



240 The United States Reader. [1797. 



Washington at Mount Vernon. — Irving. 

1. His official career being terminated, Washington set off 
for Mount Vernon, accompanied by Mrs. Washington, her 
grand-daughter Miss Nelly Custis, and George Washington 
Lafayette (son of the marquis), with his preceptors. Of the 
enthusiastic devotion manifested toward him wherever he 
passed, he takes the following brief and characteristic notice: 
'•The attentions we met Avith on our journey were very flatter- 
ing, and to some, whose minds are differently formed from mine, 
would have been highly relished ; but I avoided, in every instance 
where I had any previous notice of the intention, and could, 
by earnest entreaties, prevail, all parade and escorts." 

2. lie is at length at Mount Vernon, that haven of repose to 
which he had so often turned a wistful eye, throughout his 
agitated and anxious life, and where he trusted to pass quietly 
and Berenelyihe remainder of his days. He finds himself, how- 
ever. •• in the situation of a new beginner; almost everything 
about him required considerable repairs, and a house is imme- 
diately to be built for the reception and safe-keeping of his 
military, civil, and private papers/' "In a word/' writes he, 
"I am already surrounded by joiners, masons, and painters; 
and such is my anxiety to be out of their hands, that I have 
scarcely a room to put a friend into, or to sit in myself, without 
the music of hammers and the odoriferous'' scent of paint,"' 

3. Still he is at Mount Vernon; and, as the Spring opens, 
the rural beauties of the country exert their sweetening influence. 
In a letter to his friend Oliver Wolcott, who, as Secretary of 
the Treasury, was still acting on " the great theatre," he adverts 
but briefly to public affairs. "For myself," adds he, exult- 
ingly, '-'having turned aside from the broad walks of political 
into the narrow paths of private life, I shall leave it with those 
whose duty it is to consider subjects of this sort, and, as every 
good citizen ought to do, conform to whatsoever the ruling 
powers shall decide. 

4. " To make and sell a little flour annually, to repair houses 



A 



1797.] The Nation. • 241 

going fast to ruin, to build one for the security of my papers 
of a public nature, and to amuse myself in agricultural'' and 
rural pursuits, will constitute employment for the few years I 
have to remain on this terrestrial* globe. - If, also, I could now 
and then meet the friends I esteem, it would fill the measure, 
and add zest to my enjoyments ; but, if ever this happens, it 
must be under my own vine and fig-tree, as I do not think it 
probable that I shall go beyond twenty miles from them." 

5. And again, to another friend he indulges in pleasant an- 
ticipations: "Retired from noise myself and the responsibility 
attached to public employment, my hours will glide smoothly 
on. My best wishes, however, for the prosperity of our country 
will always have the first place in my thoughts ; while to repair 
buildings and to cultivate my farms, which require close atten- 
tion, will occupy tlie few years, perhaps days, I may be a 
sojourner here, as I am now in the sixty-fifth year of my pere- 
grination'' through life." — Life of Washington. 

The Retirement of Washington.— Guizot, 

1. "Washixgtox did well to withdraw from public business. 
He had entered upon it at one of those moments, at once diffi- 
cult and favorable, when nations, surrounded by perils, summon 
all their virtue and all their wisdom to surmount them. He 
was admirably suited to this position. He held the sentiments 
and opinions of his age without slavishness or fanaticism. 
The past, its institutions, its interests, its manners, inspired him 
with neither hatred nor regret. His thoughts and his ambition 
did not impatiently reach forward into the future. The society 
in the midst of which he lived, suited his tastes and his judg- 
ment. He had confidence in its principles and its destiny, but 
a confidence enlightened and qualified by an accurate, instinc- 
tive perception of the eternal principles of social order. 

2. He served it with heartiness and independence, with that 
combination of faith and fear which is wisdom in the affairs 
of the world, as well as before God. On this account, especially, 
he was qualified to govern it ; for democracy requires two things 
for its tranquillity and its success : it must feel itself to be 






242 • The United States Reader. [1797. 

trusted and yet restrained, and must believe alike in the genu- 
ine devoted ness and the moral superiority of its leaders. On 
these conditions alone can it govern itself while in a process of 
development, and hope to take a place among the durable and 
glorious forms of human society. It is the honor of the 
American people to have, at this period, understood and ac- 
cepted these conditions. It is the glory of Washington to have 
been their interpreter and instrument. 

3. lie did the two greatest things which, in politics, man can 
have the privilege of attempting. He maintained, by peace, 
that independence of his country which he had acquired by 
war. He founded a free government, in the name of the prin- 
ciples of order, and by re-establishing their sway. When he 
retired from public life, both tasks were accomplished, and he 
could enjoy the result. For, in such high enterprises, the 
labor which they have cost matters but little. The sweat of 
any toil is dried at once on the brow where God places such 
laurels. 

4. lie retired voluntarily and a conqueror. To the very last, 
his policy had prevailed. If he had wished, he could still have 
kepi the direction of it. His successor was one of his most 
attached friends, one whom he had himself designated. Still 
the epoch' was a critical one. He had governed successfully 
for eight years— a long period in a democratic state, and that 
in its infancy. ^.For some time, a policy opposed to his own had 
been gaining ground. American society seemed disposed to 
make a trial of new paths, more in conformity, perhaps, with 
its bias. Perhaps the hour had come for Washington to quit 
the arena. His successor was there overcome. Mr. Adams 
was succeeded by Mr. Jefferson, the leader of the opposition. 
Since that time the democratic party has governed the United 
States.* 

5. Is this a good or an evil? Could it be otherwise ? Had 
the government continued in the hands of the federal party, 
would it have done better? Was this possible? What have 
been the consequences, to the United States, of the triumph of 



1 This was written during Van Buren's administration. 



d 



i?97.] The Nation. 243 

the democratic party? Have they been carried out to the end, 
or have they only begun? What changes have the society and 
constitution of America undergone, what have they yet to 
undergo, under their influence ? These are great questions ; 
difficult, if I mistake not, for natives to solve, and certainly 
impossible for a foreigner. 

6. However it may be, one thing is certain; that which 
Washington did — the founding of a free government, by order 
and peace, at the close of the Eevolution — no other policy 
than his could have accomplished. He has had this true 
glory — of triumphing so long as he governed ; and of render- 
ing the triumph of his adversaries possible, after him, without 
disturbance to the State. 

7. More than once, perhaps, this result presented itself to his 
mind without disturbing his composure. " With me a pre- 
dominant motive has been to endeavor to gain time to our 
country to settle and mature its yet recent institutions ; and to 
proceed without interruption to that degree of strength and 
consistency which is necessary to give it, humanly speak- 
ing, the command of its own fortunes." The people of the 
United States are virtually the arbiters of their own fortunes. 
Washington had aimed at that high object. He reached his 
mark. Who has succeeded like him ? Who has seen his own 
success so near and so soon ? Who has enjoyed to such a 
degree, and to the last, the confidence and gratitude of his 
country ? 

8. Still, at the close of his life, in the delightful and honor- 
able retirement at Mount Vernon which he had so longed for, 
this great man, serene as he was, was inwardly conscious of a 
slight feeling of lassitude and melancholy; a feeling very 
natural at the close of a long life employed in the affairs of 
men. Power is an oppressive burden ; and men are hard to 
serve, when one is struggling virtuously and strenuously against 
their passions and their errors. Even success does not efface 
the sad impressions to which the contest has given birth, and 
the exhaustion which succeeds the struggle is still felt in the 
quiet of repose. . . . Washington deserved and enjoyed both 



244 2Tk United States Reader. [i*«*. 



success and repose. Of all great men, he was the most vir- 
tuous and the most fortunate. In this world God has no 
higher favors to bestow. — Essay on Washington. 

John Adams's Administration. —Troubles with France.— 
The neutral position taken by the United States in the war between France and 
England gave offense to the former government ; and "Jay's Treaty," which 
had been ratified in 1795, by the American Senate, considerably augmented the 
unfriendly feeling. This was boldly made manifest by the act of the French 
government, in authorizing depredations to be committed upon the commerce 
of the United States, and in ordering our Minister, Mr. Finckney, to leave 
France. 

One of the first acts of President Adams was to convene Congress in extra 
session, to consider these outrages. Three envoys were sent to France, with 
authority to adjust all difficulties; but the French government refused to receive 
them, and even ordered two of them to quit the country. This insult excited 
groat indignation in the United States ; and Congress at once adopted mcasnres 
lor putting the country in a state of defense by authorizing a standing army 
and a naval armament, and appointed Washington commander-in-chief of the 
entire land-forces. 

Hostilities at sea soon afterward commenced. In one ease, an American 
schooner was taken, and, in another, a French frigate was captured by the 
United States frigate Constellation. The decided stand taken by the Americans 
had its effect upon the French government ; and overtures of peace were made, 
winch resulted in a treaty, concluded in 1800, with Napoleon Bonaparte, who 
had become First Consul of France. 

Hail, Columbia.— Hapkinsow. 

[The national ode, '• Hail, Columbia," was composed in 1708, during the troubles with 
France, by Joseph Hopkinson, the son of one of the signers of the Declaration, and 
subsequently a United States judge in Pennsylvania. The following account of the 
circumstances attending its composition was given by himself, a few months before his 
death, in 1842.] 

1. This song was written in the summer of 1798, when war 
with France was thought to he inevitable. Congress was then 
in session in Philadelphia, deliberating upon that important 
subject, and acts of hostility had actually taken place. The 
contest between England and France was raging, and the peo- 
ple of the United States were divided into parties for the one 
side or the other, some thinking that policy and duty required 
us to espouse the cause of republican France, as she was called, 
while others were for connecting ourselves with England, under 



A 



1798.] The Nation. 24.5 

the belief that she was the great conservative power of good 
principles and safe government. 

2. The violation of our rights by both belligerents 7 was forc- 
ing us from the just and wise policy of President Washing- 
ton, which was to do equal justice to both, to take part with 
neither, but to preserve a strict and honest neutrality between 
them. The prospect of a rupture with France was exceedingly 
offensive to the portion of the people who espoused her cause; 
and the violence of the spirit of party has never risen higher, 
I think not so high, in our country, as it did at that time upon 
that question. 

3. The theatre was then open in our city. A young man 
belonging to it, whose talent was as a singer, was about to take 
his benefit. 1 had known him when he was at school. On this 
acquaintance, he called on me one Saturday afternoon, his 
benefit being announced for the following Monday. His pros- 
pects were very disheartening; but he said that if he could get 
a patriotic song adapted to the tune of the " President's March," 
he did not doubt of a full house ; that the poets of the theatrical 
corps had been trying to accomplish it, but had not succeeded. 
I told him I would try what I could do. He came the next 
afternoon, and the song, such as it is; was ready for him. 

4. The object of the author was to get up an American spiiHt, 
which should be independent of, and above, the interests, pas- 
sions, and policy of both belligerents, and look and feel exclu- 
sively for our own honor and rights. No allusion is made to 
France or England, or the quarrel between them, or to the 
question which was most in fault in their treatment of us. Of 
course, the song found favor with both parties, for both were 
Americans ; at least, neither could disavow the sentiments and 
feelings it inculcated. Such is the history of this song, which 
has endured infinitely beyond the expectation of the author, as 
it has beyond any merit it can boast of, except that of being 
truly and exclusively patriotic in its sentiments and spirit. 

[The last stanza, in its allusion to Washington, is particularly impressive.] 

Behold the chief who now commands, 
Once more to serve his country stands — 



246 The United States Reader. [1709. 

The rock on which the storm will beat, 

The rock on which the storm will beat; 
But armed in virtue, firm and true, 
His hopes are fixed on heaven and } t ou. 

When hope was sinking in dismay, 

And gloom obscured Columbia's day, 

His sturdy mind, from danger free, 

Resolved on death or liberty. 
Firm — united, etc. 

Death of Washington, — Washington did not live to see the troubles 
with France terminated : he died, after a brief illness of a few hours, at Mount 
Vernon, on the 14th of December, 1799. His death was universally lamented 
as a national bereavement, and ceremonies of the most solemn and impressive 
character were obserred by Congress, before whom General Henry Lee,of Vir- 
ginia, delivered an eloquent funeral oration (Dec. 26). 

Tribute to Washington.— Mason. 

[Extract from a eulogy on Washington, by JohnM. Mason, D.D.] 

1. Tiie death of Washington, Americans, has revealed the 
extent of our loss. It has given us the final proof that we 
never mistook him. Take his affecting instrument, and read 
the secrets of his soul. Read all the power of domestic virtue. 
Bead his strong love of letters and of liberty. Read his fidelity 
to republican principles, and his jealousy of national character. 
Read his devotedness to you in his military bequests to near 
relal ions. "These swords," — they are the words of Washington, 
— "these swords are accompanied with an injunction not to 
unsheathe them for the purpose of shedding blood, except it be 
for self-defense, or in defense of their country and its rights; 
and, in the latter case, to keep them unsheathed, and prefer 
falling with them in their hands to the relinquishment thereof." 

2. In his acts, Americans, you have seen the man. In the com- 
plicated excellence of character, he stands alone. Let no future 
Plutarch attempt the iniquity of parallel. Let no soldier of 
fortune, let no usurping conqueror, let not Alexander or Caesar, 
let not Cromwell or Bonaparte, let none among the dead or 
living, appear in the same picture with Wasiiixgtox ; or let 
them appear as the shade to his light. 

3. On this subject, my countrymen, it is for others to 



d 



1709.] The Nation. 247 

speculate, but it is for us to feel. Yet, in proportion to 
the severity of the stroke, ought to be our thankfulness 
that it was not inflicted sooner. Through a long series of 
years has God preserved our Washington a public blessing; 
and now, that he has removed him forever, shall we pre- 
sume to say, "What doest thou?" Never did the tomb 
preach more powerfully the dependence of all things on the 
Most High. The greatest of mortals crumble into dust the 
moment He commands, Return, ye children of men. Washing- 
ton was but the instrument of a benignant God. He sickens, 
he dies, that we may learn not to trust in men, nor to make 
flesh our arm. But though Washington is dead, Jehovah lives. 
God of our fathers ! be our God and the God of our children ! 
Thou art our refuge and our hope; the pillar of our strength; 
the wall of our defense, and our unfading glory. 

4. Americans ! this God who raised up Washington, and gave 
you liberty, exacts from you the duty of cherishing it with a 
zeal according to knowledge. Never sully, by apathy or by 
outrage, your fair inheritance. Risk not, for one moment, on 
visionary theories, the solid blessings of your lot. To you par- 
ticularly, youth of America ! applies the solemn charge. In 
all the perils of your country, remember Washington. The 
freedom of reason and of right has been handed down to you 
on the point of the hero's sword. Guard with veneration the 
sacred deposit. The curse of ages will rest upon you, youth 
of America! if ever you surrender to foreign ambition or 
domestic lawlessness the precious liberties for which Washington 
fought and your fathers bled. 

5. I cannot part with you, fellow-citizens, without urging the 
long remembrance of our present assembly. This day we wipe 
away the reproach of republics, that they know not how to be 
grateful. In your treatment of living patriots, recall your love 
and your respect of Washington. Let not future inconsistency 
charge this day with hypocrisy. Happy America, if she gives 
an instance of universal principle in her sorrows for the man 
" first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his coun- 
trymen ! " 

11* 



248 The United States Reader. [1799. 

Character of Washington. — Marshall. 

1. General Washington was rather above the common size. 
His frame was robust, and his constitution vigorous. His 
figure created in the beholder the idea of strength united with 
manly gracefulness. His manners were rather reserved than 
free ; though on all proper occasions he could relax sufficiently 
to show how highly he was gratified by the charms of conver- 
sation, and the pleasures of society. His person and whole 
deportment exhibited an unaffected and indescribable dignity, 
unmingled with haughtiness, of which all who approached him 
were sensible; and the attachment of those who possessed his 
friendship and enjoyed his intimacy, though ardent, was always 

respectful. 

2. His temper was humane, benevolent, and conciliatory; 
but there was a qnickness in bis sensibility to anything appar- 
ently offensive, which experience had taught him to watch and 
to correct. In the management of his private affairs, he ex- 
hibited an exact yet liberal economy. His funds were not 
wasted on capricious and ill-examined schemes, nor refused to 
beneficial, though costly improvements. They remained, 
therefore, competent to that expensive establishment which his 
reputation, added to a hospitable temper, had, in some measure, 
imposed upon him ; and to those donations which real distress 
had a right to claim from opulence. 

3. He had no pretensions to that vivacity which fascinates, 
or to that wit which dazzles and frequently imposes on the un- 
derstanding. More solid than brilliant, judgment rather than 
genius constituted the prominent feature of his character. 
Withont making ostentatious professions of religion, he was a 
sincere believer in the Christian faith, and a truly devout man. 

4. As a soldier he was brave, enterprising, and cautious. 
That malignity which has sought to strip him of the higher 
qualities of a general, has conceded to him personal courage, 
and a firmness of resolution which danger could not appal nor 
difficulties shake. But candor must allow him greater and 
higher endowments. If his military course does not abound 



d 



1799.] The Nation. 249 

with splendid achievements, it exhibits a series of judicious 
measures adapted to circumstances, which probably saved bis 
country. 

5. Placed, without having studied the theory or being taught 
in the school of experience the practice of war, at the head of 
an undisciplined, ill-organized multitude, which was impatient 
of the restraints, and unacquainted with the ordinary duties, 
of a camp, without the aid of officers possessing those lights 
which the commander-in-chief was yet to acquire, it would 
have been a miracle, indeed, had his conduct been absolutely 
faultless. But, possessing an energetic and distinguished mind, 
on which the lessons of experience were never lost, his errors, 
if he committed any, were quickly repaired ; and those mea- 
sures which the state of things rendered advisable were seldom, 
if ever, neglected. 

6. Inferior to his adversary in the numbers, the equipment, 
and in the discipline of his troops, it is evidence of real merit 
that no decisive advantages were ever obtained over him, and 
that the opportunity to strike an important blow never passed 
away unused. He has been termed the American Fabius; but 
those who compare his actions with his means, will perceive 
as much of Marcellus as of Fabius in his character. 

7. In his civil administration as in his military career, am- 
ple and repeated proofs were exhibited of that practical good 
sense and of that sound judgment, which is perhaps the most 
rare, and is certainly the most valuable quality of the human 
mind. Devoting himself to the duties of his station, and pur- 
suing no object distinct from the public good, he was accus- 
tomed to contemplate at a distance those situations in which 
the United States might probably be placed; and to digest, 
before the occasion required action, the line of conduct which 
it would be proper to observe. 

8. Taught to distrust first impressions, he sought all the 
information which was, attainable, and heard, without preju- 
dice, all the reasons which could be urged for or against 
particular measures. His judgment was suspended until it 
became necessary to determine ; and his decisions, thus ma- 



2 5o The United States Reader. [1799. 

turely made, were seldom, if ever, to be shaken. His conduct, 
therefore, was systematic, and the great objects of his adminis- 
tration were readily pursued, 

9. Respecting, as the first in a free government must ever 
do, the real and deliberate sentiments of the people, their gusts 
of passion passed over without ruffling the smooth surface of 
his mind. Trusting to the reflecting good sense of the nation, 
he had the magnanimity to pursue its real interests in oppo- 
sition to its temporary prejudices; and, in more instances than 
que, we find him committing his whole popularity to hazard, 
ami pursuing steadily the course dictated by a sense of duty, in 
opposition to a torrent which would have overwhelmed a man 
of ordinary firmness. 

10. In speculation, he was a real republican, devoted to the 
constitution of his country, and to that system of equal politi- 
cal rights on which it is founded. But, between a balanced 
republic and democracy, the difference is like that between 
order and chaos. Real liberty, he thought, was to be preserved 
only by upholding the authority of the laws, and maintaining 
the energy of government. Scarcely did society present two 
characters, which, in his opinion, less resembled each other 
than a patriot and a demagogue. 

11. No man has ever appeared upon the theatre of human 
action whose integrity Avas more incorruptible, or whose princi- 
ples were more perfectly free from the contamination of those 
sellish and unworthy passions which find their nourishment in 
the conflicts of party. His ends were always upright, and his 
means always pure. He exhibits the rare example of a poli- 
tician to whom wiles were absolutely unknown. In him was 
fully exemplified the real distinction between wisdom and cun- 
ning, and the truth of the maxim that " honesty is the best 
policy." 

12. Neither the extraordinary partiality of the American 
people, the extravagant praises which were besknved upon him, 
nor the inveterate opposition and malignant calumnies which he 
encountered, had any visible influence on his conduct. The 
cause is to be looked for in the texture of his mind. In him, 



d 



isoo.] The Nation. 2S1 

that innate and unassuming modesty which adulation would 
have offended, which the voluntary plaudits of millions could 
not betray into indiscretion, and which never obtruded upon 
others his claims to superior consideration, was happily blended 
with a high and correct sense of personal dignity, and with a 
just consciousness of that respect which is due to station. 
Without exertion, he could maintain the happy medium be- 
tween that arrogance which wounds, and that facility which 
allows the office to be degraded in the person who fills it. 

13. It is impossible to contemplate the great events which 
have occurred in the United States, under the auspices of Wash- 
ington, without ascribing them, in some measure, to him. If 
we ask the causes of the prosperous issue of a war, against the 
successful termination of which there were so many probabil- 
ities, — of the good which was produced, and the ill which was 
avoided, during an administration fated to contend with the 
strongest prejudices that a combination of circumstances and 
of passions could produce, — of the constant favor of the great 
mass of his fellow-citizens, and of the confidence which to the 
last moment of his life they reposed in him, — the answer will 
furnish a lesson well meriting the attention of those who are 
candidates for political fame. 

14. Endowed by nature with a sound judgment, and an ac- 
curate, discriminating mind, he feared not that laborious atten- 
tion which made him perfectly master of those subjects on 
which he was to decide ; and this essential quality was guided 
by an unvarying sense of moral right, which would tolerate 
the employment of those means only that would bear the most 
rigid examination ; by a fairness of intention which neither 
sought nor required disguise ; and by a purity of virtue which 
was not only untainted, but unsuspected. — Life of Washington. 

Removal of the Capitol, etc. — Few events of interest occurred 
during the remainder of Adams's administration. During the summer of 1800, 
the national Capitol was removed from Philadelphia to Washington, a location 
selected, it is said, hy Washington himself. The District of Columbia — a tract 
ten miles square — had been ceded to the United States by Maryland and Virginia 
in 1790 ; and the city was laid out the next year. The building of the Capitol was 



252 The United States Reader. [isoi. 

not commenced till two years later. During the same year (1800), the terri- 
tory situated between the western frontier of Georgia and the Mississippi River 
was organized by Congress as the Mississippi Territory. 

John Adams's Successor. — Toward the close of Adams's administra- 
tion of four years, a fierce struggle took place between the two great parties of the 
day — Federal and Republican— in relation to the presidential succession. Upon 
counting the electoral votes it was found that no candidate had the requisite 
majority ; therefore the election went to the House of Representatives, by whom 
Jefferson was chosen president, and Aaron Burr, of New York, vice-president. 

The Election of Jefferson.— Bandall. 

[The election of Thomas Jefferson by the Ilouse of Representatives was accomplished 
after a Btrnggle unparalleled in the political history of the country. The balloting com- 
menced on the 11th of February, and was continued until the 17th, (1801), when. -on the 
thirty-sixth ballot, ten States voted for Jefferson , four (New England) for Burr, and two 
(Delaware and South Carolina) cast blank ballots. Previous to this there had been eight 
Stat.s for Jetler-on. six for Burr, and two (Vermont and Maryland) were divided. On the 
lir-t ballot fifty-four members voted for Burr, and fifty-one for Jefferson ; but the latter had 
the greater number of Mate-.] 

1. Two weeks more would have ended the constitutional 
government In the event of interregnum* and anarchy*, what 

hopes would there have been for the authors of the evil? In 
Maryland, where the Presidential vote had been balanced, the 
republicans hud carried the legislature elected since the acting 
members of Congress. New Jersey, nearly balanced in the 
present House, had been triumphantly swept by the republicans 
in the last Congressional elections. The popular majority in 
Pennsylvania was large. New York had been carried by the 
same ] >artv. The southern and western States were over- 
whelmingly republican. 

2. Nor were election statistics"" any real test of relative 
strength. During that week of dread suspense, as mail after 
mail spread the intelligence of the scene going on at the capi- 
tal, the light snow never wasted under the sun of June as 
wasted away the Federal party. The people west and south of 
the Hudson, with almost united voice, declared the conduct of 
the Federal members of Congress a most gross, dangerous, and 
wanton violation of the spirit of our Constitution and system 
of government. Astonishment, alarm, and rage swept like 
succeeding waves over the land. If the effect was less appar- 



d 



i8oi.] The Nation. 253 

eut on the compact federal masses of New England, there, too, 
it had weakened that party most seriously, and created a for- 
midable minority. 

3. And the republicans were fortunately situated for the 
crisis in some incidental particulars. The two great central 
States which held the capital wedged between them — contain- 
ing more population than all New England, and considerably 
upwards of one-fourth of the entire population of the Union — ■ 
were not only strongly republican, but they had executives as 
well adapted to such an emergency as if it had been foreseen, 
and had formed the especial ground of their selection. 

4. For intellectual and executive ability, combined with iron 
will and that high energy which always takes the initiative v 
when contest is unavoidable, Governor McKean [of Pennsyl- 
vania] probably had not his superior in the United States. 
Governor Monroe [of Virginia] was of milder frame, but was 

. as resolute a man as there was on earth when his judgment 
bade him act. He had military experience; he had the pro- 
found love and confidence of his people. When either of these 
executives unfurled the banner of his State against a usurpa- 
tion, there would be left no minority in that State. 

5. It would be vain to deny that both parties had the arbi- 
tration of arms distinctly in contemplation as the sequel to a 
usurpation, or to settle, if necessary, the anarchy of an inter- 
regnum. We find Porcupine's Gazette abounding in extracts 
from Federal newspapers, exhorting their partisans to stand firm 
and defy the threats of the Eepublicans, declaring that any 
member of their party " would consecrate his name to infamy" 
who should " meanly and inconsistently lend his aid to promote 
Jefferson's election." One Federal statistician^ after enumerat- 
ing the Massachusetts militia, declaring that Connecticut and 
New Hampshire are united almost to a man, and that at least 
half the citizens of eleven other States are "ranged under the 
Federal banner in support of the Constitution," wishes to know 
"what could Pennsylvania, aided by Virginia," do under such 
circumstances? .... 

6. The president-elect w T as anxious that the ceremonies of his 



254 The United States Reader. [isoi, 

inauguration should be as few and simple as practicable; but 
the feelings of his friends who had Hocked to the capital, would 
not permit him to go unattended to the Senate Chamber to 
take the oath of office. An English eye-witness thus describes 
his appearance on the occasion : "His dress was of plain cloth, 
and he rode on horseback to the capitol without a single guard 
or servant in his train, dismounted without assistance, and 
hitched the bridle of his horse to the palisades." On lus enter- 
ing the Senate Chamber, Burr, who had already taken the oath 
of office, gave ii}) his chair, and took his seat on the right. On 
the left sat the Chief-Justice. Two imposing and usual figures 
on such occasions were absent — the late President and the late 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. Mr. Adams had made 
an abrupt and ungraceful departure from the city early in the 
morning. — Life of Thomas Jefferson. 

Advice to the Nation. — Jefferson. 

[The following is an extract from the Inancrural Address, delivered by Thomas Jeffer- 
son on attorning the Presidential chair, March 4th, 1801.] 

1. DURING the contest of opinion through which we have 
passed, the animation of discussion and of exertions has some- 
times worn an aspect which might impose on strangers unused 
to think freely and to speak and write what they think; but this 
being now decided by the voice of the nation, announced accord- 
ing to the rules of the Constitution, all will, of course, arrange 
themselves under the will of the law, and unite in common 
efforts for the common good. All, too, will bear in mind this 
sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all 
cases to prevail, that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable; 
that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal laws 
must protect, and to violate which would be oppression. 

2. Let us then, fellow-citizens, unite with one heart and one 
mind. Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and 
affection without which liberty and even life itself are but 
dreary things. And let us reflect that, having banished from 
our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so 
long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little, if we counte- 



A 



1801.] The Nation. 2 55 

nance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable 
of as bitter and bloody persecutions. 

3. During the throes and convulsions of the ancient world, 
during the agonizing spasms of infuriated man, seeking 
through blood and slaughter his long-lost liberty, it was not won- 
derful that the agitation of the billows should reach even this 
distant and peaceful shore ; that this should be more felt and 
feared by some, and less by others ; that this should divide 
opinions as to measures of safety. But every difference of 
opinion is not a difference of principle. AVe are all republicans 
— we are all federalists. If there be any among us who would 
wish to dissolve this Union, or to change its republican form, 
let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with 
which error of opinion may be tolerated when reason is left free 
to combat it. 

4. I know, indeed, that some honest men fear that a repub- 
lican government cannot be strong; that this government is 
not strong enough. But would the honest patriot, in the full 
tide of successful experiment, abandon a government which 
has so far kept us free and firm, on the theoretic and visionary 
fear that this government, the world's best hope, may by possi- 
bility want the energy to preserve itself? I trust not. I be- 
lieve this, on the contrary, the strongest government on earth. 
I believe it the only one where every man, at the call of the 
laws, would fly to the standard of the law, and would meet in- 
vasions of the public order as his own personal concern. Some- 
times it is said that man cannot be trusted with the govern- 
ment of himself. Can he then be trusted with the government 
of others ? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to 
govern him ? Let history answer this question. 

5. Let us, then, with courage and confidence pursue our own 
federal and republican principles, our attachment to our union 
and representative government. Kindly separated by nature 
and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of one quarter 
of the globe; too high-minded to endure the degradations of 
the others ; possessing a chosen country, with room enough for 
our descendants to the hundredth and thousandth generation ; 



2 56 The United States Reader. [isgs. 



entertaining a cine sense of our equal rights to the use of our 
own faculties, to the acquisitions of our industry, to honor and 
confidence from our fellow-citizens, resulting, not from birth, 
hut from our actions and their sense of them ; enlightened by 
a benign religion, professed, indeed, and practised in various 
forms, yet all of them including honesty, truth, temperance, 
gratitude, and the love of man ; acknowledging and adoring 
an overruling Providence, which by all its dispensations proves 
that it delights in the happiness of man here and his greater 
happiness hereafter; with all these blessings, what more is 
necessary to make us a happy and prosperous people? 

6. Still one thing more, fellow-citizens — a wise and frugal 
government, which shall restrain men from injuring one an- 
other, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their 
own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take 
from the mouth of labor the bread it lias earned. This is the 
sum of good government, and this alone is necessary to close 
the circle of our felicities. 

Jefferson's Administration.— Admission of Ohio.— In 1802 
tlic Ohio Territory, which had previously formed the eastern part of the North- 
wesl Territory, :i<l<>ptr<l a State government, and was admitted into the Union 
aa the State of Ohio.* This made seventeen States belonging to the Union. 

Purchase 0/ Louisiana. — In 1803 a most important addition was 
made to the national domain of the United States, by the purchase of an im- 
mense tract of land lying principally between the Mississippi River and the 
Rocky Mountains, and called by the French Louisiana, after one of their kings 
(Louis XIV.). This territory was purchased from the French government, at 
the head of which was Napoleon Bonaparte, for the sum of fifteen millions of 
dollars. One of the most important advantages secured by this purchase, and 
that for which it was chiefly made, was the free navigation of the Mississippi 
River to the Gulf of Mexico. Considerable opposition was made to the ratifica- 
tion of the treaty by which the cession was obtained, particularly from the 
Federalists, on the ground that the Constitution gave no power to annex foreign 
territory ; and Jefferson himself considered that he had transcended the limits 
of the Constitution ; others, however, took different ground, and the treaty was 
ratified. Louisiana was afterward divided into two territories, called respect- 
ively the Territory of New Orleans and the District of Louisiana. 



1 The Ohio River was so called by the Indians, the word signifying beautiful. 



d 



1803.] The Nation. 267 

War With Tripoli.— In the same year, 1803, Commodore Preble 
(preb'el) was sent against the pirates of the Barbary States, who were constantly 
committing depredations upon the commerce of the United States. One of his 
vessels, the frigate Philadelphia, while reconnoitering the enemy's fortification in 
the harbor of Tripoli (trip'o-le), struck on a rock, and was captured, her crew 
being made slaves. 

The recapture of the frigate being considered impracticable, her destruction 
was determined upon. Accordingly, on the night of February 15, 1804, Lieu- 
tenant Decatur [de-katur), in a small vessel, with about eighty companions, 
entered the harbor, boarded the Philadelphia, killed or drove into the sea every 
one of the Tripolitan crew, and, after setting the frigate on fire, escaped without 
losing a man. 

About a year later, Mr. Eaton, an agent of the United States, concerted an 
expedition with Hamct, the exiled though rightful heir to the throne of Tripoli. 
He marched from Egypt across the desert, and captured Der'ne ; but, in the 
midst of his successes, a treaty of peace was concluded between the bashaw and 
Mr. Lear, American Consul-General. ' 

Duel between Hamilton and Burr.— In 1804 (July 12), occurred 
a duel between Alexander Hamilton * and the vice-president, Aaron Burr,! in 
which Hamilton was mortally wounded. The challenge came from Burr, who 
had been informed that Hamilton had publicly made remarks which reflected 
upon his character, and demanded, in an offensive way, that they should be 
withdrawn. This was refused by Hamilton. The meeting took place at 
Hoboken ; Hamilton discharged his pistol in the air, but Burr took deliberate 
aim, and his antagonist fell. The death of Hamilton occurred the next day, 
and was universally lamented ; while Burr was obliged to flee from the storm 
of indignation which his act had produced. 

Eulogy on Hamilton. — Dr. Nott. 

[From a discourse delivered in Albany, July, 1804.] 

1. that I possessed the talent of eulogy, and that I might 
be permitted to indulge the tenderness of friendship, in paying 
the last tribute to the memory of Hamilton ! O that I were 
capable of placing this great man before you ! Could I do this, 

* Hamilton was bom in the Island of Nevis. West Indies, in 1757. At the age of thirteen, he was 
sent to New York to be educated. He was one of the first to take up arms at the beginning of the 
Revolution, and, as captain of an artillery company, performed a creditable part in the battle of Long 
Island. By his activity and intelligence he attracted the attention of Washington, and, after the 
battles of Trenton and Princeton, in which he took part, he accepted an invitation from the com- 
mander-in-chief to take a place on his staff as aid-de-camp. He afterward participated in the battles 
of Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. 

+ Burr was born at Newark. New Jersey, in 1756. In 1775, he was engaged in the expedition 
against Canada, and accompanied Arnold upon his toilsome march through the wilderness. He was 
in the battles of Quebec and Monmouth, His death occurred at Staten Island, N. Y., in 1S36. 



2 58 The United States Reader. [iso4. 



I .should furnish you with an argument, the most practical, 
the most plain, the most convincing, except that drawn from 
the mandate of God, that was ever furnished against duelling 
— that horrid practice which has, in an awful moment, robbed 
the world of such exalted worth. But I cannot do this; I can 
only hint at the variety and exuberance of his excellence. 

2. The Man. on whom nature seems originally to have im- 
pressed the stamp of greatness; whose genius beamed, from the 
retirement of collegiate life, with a radiance which dazzled, 
and a loveliness whieh charmed the eye of sages. The Hero, 
called from his sequestered retreat, whose first appearance in 
the Held, though a stripling, conciliated the esteem of Washing- 
ton, our good old father. Moving by whose side, during all the 
perils of the Revolution, our young chieftain was a contributor 
to the veteran's glory, the guardian of his person, and the co- 
partner of his toils. 

3. The Conqueror, who, sparing of human blood, when vic- 
tory favored, staved the uplifted arm, and nobly said to the 
vanquished enemy, "Live!" The Statesman, the correctness 
of whose principles and the strength of whose mind are 
inscribed on the records of Congress, and on the annals of the 
council-chamber; whose genius impressed itself on the Consti- 
tution of his country; and whose memory, the government, 
illustrious fabric, resting on this basis, will perpetuate while it 
lasts; and, shaken by the violence of party, should it fall, which 
may Heaven avert, his prophetic declarations will be found 
inscribed on its ruins. 

4. The Counsellor, who was at once the pride of the bar and 
the admiration of the court; whose apprehensions were as 
quick as lightning, and whose development of truth was lu- 
minous as its path; whose argument no change of circum- 
stances could embarrass; whose knowledge appeared intuitive; 
and who, by a single glance, and with as much facility as the 
eye of an eagle passes over the landscape, surveyed the whole 
field of controversy ; saw in what way truth might be most 
successfully defended, and how error must be approached ; and 
who, without ever stopping, ever hesitating, by a rapid and 



d 



1804.] The Nation. 259 

manly march, led the listening judge and the fascinated juror, 
step by step, through a delightsome region, brightening as he 
advanced, till his argument rose to demonstration, and elo- 
quence was rendered useless by conviction ; whose talents were 
employed on the side of righteousness; whose voice, whether 
in the council-chamber or at the bar of justice, was virtue's 
consolation; at whose approach oppressed humanity felt a 
secret rapture, and the heart of injured innocence leapt for 

5. Where Hamilton was — in whatever sphere he moved, the 
friendless had a friend, the fatherless a father, and the poor 
man, though unable to reward his kindness, found an advocate. 
It was when the rich oppressed the poor, when the powerful 
menaced the defenseless, when truth w T as disregarded, or the 
eternal principles of justice violated — it was on these occasions 
that he sometimes soared so high and shone with a radiance 
so transcendent, I had almost said, so "heavenly, as filled those 
around him with awe, and gave to him the force and authority 
of a prophet." 

6. The Patriot, whose integrity baffled the scrutiny of inqui- 
sition; whose manly virtue never shaped itself to circum- 
stances ; who, always great, always himself, stood amidst the 
varying tides of party, firm like the rock which, far from land, 
lifts its majestic top above the waves, and remains unshaken 
by the storms wdiich agitate the ocean. The Friend, who 
knew no guile — whose bosom was transparent and deep; on 
the' bottom of whose heart was rooted every tender and sympa- 
thetic virtue; whose various worth opposing parties acknowl- 
edged wdiile alive, and on wdiose tomb they unite, with equal 
sympathy and grief, to heap their honors 

7. He yielded to the force of an imperious custom; and 
yielding, he sacrificed a life in which all had an interest — and he 
is lost — lost to his country, lost to his family, lost to us. For 
this act, because he disclaimed it and was penitent, I forgive 
him. But there are those whom I cannot forgive. I mean not 
his antagonist, over whose erring steps, if there be tears in 
Heaven, a pious mother looks down and weeps. If he be capa- 



1 



260 The United States Reader. usos. 

ble of feeling, he Buffers already all that humanity can suffer, — 
suffers, and, wherever he may fly, will suffer — with the poignant 
recollection of having taken the life of one who was too magnani- 
mous, in return, to attempt his own. Had he known this, it must 
have paralyzed his arm while it pointed at so incorruptible a 
bosom the instrument of death. Does he knoAv this now, his 
heart, if it be not adamant, must soften — if it be not ice, it 

111 u si melt 

8. Approach, and behold, while I lift from the sepulchre its 
covering! Ye admirers of his greatness, ye emulous of his 
talents and his fame, approach, and behold him now ! How 
pale! How silent! No martial bands admire the adroitness 
of his movements; no fascinated throng weep, and melt, and 
tremble, at his eloquence. Amazing change! ashroud — acoffin 
— a narrow subterraneous cabin — this is all that now remains 
of Hamilton! And is this all that remains of him? During 
:i lift- so transitory, what lasting monument, then, can our 
fondest hopes erecl ? 

"Re-election Of Jefferson, — Thomas Jefferson was re-elected president 
in 1805; but Burr, having lost all political influence by his connection with the 
duel just referred to, was succeeded as vice-president by George Clinton, of New 
York. 

Burr 9 * Subsequent History. — After his retirement from the vice- 
presidency, Burr made ajourney to the southwest, and there his conduct sub- 
jected him to strange suspicion; lie made considerable progress in the or- 
ganization of an expedition which, it was alleged, was designed for the invasion 
of Mexico. His ultimate purpose, it was- further alleged, was to establish an 
empire which should embrace one or more of the southwestern States of the 
Union. 

By order of the president of the United States he was arrested, taken to 
Richmond, Virginia, and there tried on a charge of treason. The trial was a 
protracted one ; but, under a ruling of the court, which did not involve the 
determination of the guilt or innocence of the accused, he was acquitted. He 
was, however, believed to be guilty of a design to dismember the Union, with 
the view to establish an independent state west of the Alleghanies, with him- 
self at its head. He subsequently had no connection with the public affairs of 
the country. 

Tt'Oiilrfcs with ^England. — The wars in Europe, growing out of the 
"French revolution, continued during Jefferson's administration. That between 
England and Erance, though it at first proved profitable to the American ship- 



4 



1809.] The Nation. 261 

ping interests engaged in the carrying trade between the ports of the two hostile 
nations, resulted in the adoption of measures injurious to our commerce. To 
annoy and cripple her adversary, England declared the whole northern coast 
of France in a state of blockade. Napoleon retaliated by the " Berlin Decree/' 
in which he pronounced the British Islands in a state of blockade. But the 
crowning grievance was the " right of search," asserted by Great Britain, under 
which claim American vessels were boarded, and all sailors of English birth 
found on board, were impressed as subjects of the king. 

Affair of the Chesapeake and Leopard. — An event occurred, 
in June, 1807, which occasioned great excitement throughout the country. The 
frigate Chesapeake, when off the capes of Virginia, was fired into by the British 
frigate Leopard. The American vessel, being unprepared for action, struck her 
colors, after having twenty-one of her crew killed or wounded. Eour alleged 
deserters were then transferred to the Leopard, three of whom, it was afterward 
proved, were native Americans. 

This outrage provoked the president to issue a pi-oclamation forbidding 
British armed vessels to 'enter the ports or waters of the United States. Al- 
though the act of the Leopard was not approved by the British government, 
no reparation was made till four years afterward. 

The Embargo Act. — In consequence of the policy of the two European 
nations, so destructive to our commerce, Congress passed the Embargo Act', ' 
forbidding American vessels to leave the ports of the United States. As this 
act not only failed to produce any change in the policy of the two powers at 
war, but was ruinous in its effects upon the shipping interests, it became very 
unpopular, and was repealed — a law, prohibiting all intercourse with those coun- 
tries, being substituted for it. 

Jefferson's Successor. — Thomas Jefferson was succeeded on the 4th 
of March, 1 809, by James Madison of Virginia. 

Cotton Culture and Steam Navigation. — Among the most 
important sources of advancement in material prosperity during the administra- 
tion of Jefferson, were the improvements in steam navigation and the cultivation 
of cotton. The former was brought to a practical success by Robert Eulton, 
in 1S07. 

Steam Navigation. — Timbs. 

1. 1^" 1778, the notorious Thomas Paine, the republican, pro- 
posed in America the propulsion of vessels by steam. Paine, 
at one period, employed himself much in mechamcal specula- 
tions. In 1787, he submitted to the Academy of Sciences at 
Paris a plan for the construction of iron bridges, which he after- 
ward explained in a letter printed in Eotherham. He published 
four or five treatises — on iron bridges, the yellow feyer, the 
building of ships of war, etc. 



262 The United States Reader. [iso7. 

2. The enterprising spirit of the Americans was not likely to 
suffer them to be wanting in efforts to bring that to pass which 
had caused so much sensation on this side of the Atlantic, and 
which, even at that time, promised such immense results. Ac- 
cordingly, we find that two individuals, named Rumsey and 
Fitch, were engaged in active rivalry in the United States, 
in applying the steam-engine to the propulsion of vessels, 

3. The latter of these two gentlemen, as early as 1783, was 
occupied in the construction of a boat which he afterward con- 
trived to move witli paddles, by the aid of a steam-engine, on 
the Delaware ; and, in 1785, lie had so far completed his design, 
that he presented a model of his apparatus to Congress. He 
\\.i encouraged by the support of several wealthy men, Who 
provided the means for his experiments, and was so sanguine of 
success, as to express his firm conviction that the ocean would 
ultimately be crossed by steam-vessels — a declaration which, 
when it was made, must have appeared to be little else than the 
notion of a visionary, but which many of Fitch's generation 
have lived to see so wonderfully realized. 

4. Rumsey, his rival, was also backed by a company; and, 
in 1784, succeeded in the construction of a boat, a model of 
which, in that year, he exhibited to General Washington. This 
vessel was about fifty feet long, and was carried along the 
Potomac by means of a stream of water, which, with a pump 
worked by a strain-engine, entered at the bow and was carried 
out at the stern, the reaction of the water being the propelling 
agent. 

5. The boiler only held about five gallons, and the fuel con- 
sumed was about six bushels of coal in twelve hours. Yet, with 
this imperfect apparatus — when the boat was loaded with three 
tons weight, besides the engine, which was about a third of a 
ton more — Rumsey succeeded in attaining a rate of three or 
four miles an hour. He afterward came to England, and, by 
the assistance of some capitalists, built another vessel, which 
was tried on the Thames in the month of February, 1793 ; 
and in several trials made afterward, one attained a speed, 
against wind and tide, of upward of four miles an hour. . . 



1S07.1 The Nation. 263 

6. Chancellor Livingston haying supplied the means, a ves- 
sel was launched upon the Hudson, by Kobert Fulton, early in 
the spring of 1807. Fulton thus described to a friend the dis- 
heartening circumstances under which the construction of the 
first steamboat — nicknamed by the Americans "Fulton's 
Folly" — was patiently persevered in by himself. He records as 
follows : " When I was building my first steamboat at New 
York, the project was viewed by the public with indifference 
or with contempt, as a visionary scheme. My friends, indeed, 
were civil, but they were shy. They listened with patience to 
my explanations, but with a settled cast of incredulity on their 
countenances. Never did a single encouraging remark, a bright 
hope, a warm wish, cross my path. Silence itself was but 
politeness veiling its doubts or hiding its reproaches." 

7. Fulton's biographer describes the trial : " Before the boat 
had made the progress of a quarter of a mile, the greatest unbe- 
liever was converted, and Fulton was received with shouts and 
acclamations, of congratulation and applause. The vessel, Cler- 
mont, made the first voyage from New York to Albany, 145 
miles, at the average rate of five miles an hour, stopping some 
time at Clermont to take in water and fuel. The whole prog- 
ress up the Hudson was a continued triumph." 

8. The vessel is described as having the most terrific appear- 
ance. The dry pine-wood fuel sent up many feet above the 
flue a column of ignited vapor, and wdien the fire was stirred, 
tremendous show r ers of sparks. The wind and tide were ad- 
verse to them, but the crowds saw with astonishment the vessel 
rapidly coming toward them ; and when it came so near that 
the noise of the machinery and paddles was heard, the "crew, in 
some instances, shrunk beneath their decks from the terrific 
sight; while others prostrated themselves, and besought Provi- 
dence to protect them from the approach of the horrible 
monster which w r as marching on the tide, and lighting its path 
by the fire that it vomited. 

9. But the Clermont soon had a competitor. Within a few 
weeks, Mr. Stevens, of Hoboken, launched a steam-vessel, which, 
as she could not ply on the w r aters of the Hudson, in consequence 

12 



264 The United States Reader. 

of the exclusive patent of Fulton and Livingston, he took round 
to the Delaware; and this was the first steamer that ever 
braved the tides of ocean. — History of Wonderful Inventions. 

King Cotton. — Robt. Mackenzie. 

1. Whex Europeans first visited the southern parts of North 
America, they found in abundant growth there a plant destined 
to such eminence in the future history of the world as no other 
member of the vegetable family ever attained. It was an unim- 
portant-looking plant two or three feet in height, studded with 
pods somewhat larger than a walnut. In the appropriate sea- 
son these pods opened, revealing a wealth of soft, white fibre, 
embedded in which lay the seeds of the plant. 

2. This was Cotton. It was not unknown to the Old World. 
The Romans used cotton fabrics before the Christian era. India 
did so from a still more remote period, but the extent to which 
its use had been carried was trivial. Men clothed themselves as 
best they might, in linen or woolen cloth, or simply in the skins 
of the beasts which they slew. The time was now at hand 
when an ampler provision for their wants was to be disclosed to 
them. 

3. 'Socially and politically, cotton has deeply influenced the 
course of human affairs. The mightiest conquerors sink into 
insignificance in presence of King Cotton. The English began 
to cultivate a little cotton very soon after their settlement in 
America. But it was a difficult crop for them to handle. The 
plants grew luxuriantly. When autumn came the opening pods 
revealed a most satisfactory opulence. The quantity of cotton 
produced excited the wonder of the planters. But the seeds of 
the plant adhered tenaciously to the fibre. Before the fibre 
could be used the seeds had to be removed. 

4. This was a slow, and therefore a costly, process. It was as 
much as a man could do in a day to separate one pound of cot- 
ton from the seeds. Cotton could never be abundant or cheap 
while this was the case. But in course of time, things came to 
pass in England which made it indispensable that cotton should 
be both abundant and cheap. 



The Nation. 265 



5. In 1768, Richard Arkwright invented a machine for spin- 
ning cotton, vastly superior to anything hitherto in use. Next 
year, a greater than he — James Watt — announced a greater in- 
vention — his steam-engine. England was now ready to begin 
her great work of weaving cotton for the world ; but where was 
the cotton to be found ? 

6. Three or four years before Watt patented his engine and 
Arkwright his spinning- frame, there was born in a New England 
farmhouse a boy whose work was needed to complete theirs. 
His name was Eli Whitney. Eli was a born mechanic. It was 
a necessity of his nature to invent and construct. As a mere 
boy he made nails, pins, and walking-canes by novel processes, 
and thus earned money to support himself at college. In 1792 
he went to Georgia to visit Mrs. Greene, the widow of that 
General Greene who so troubled Lord Cornwallis in the closing 
years of the war. 

7. In that primitive society, where few of the comforts of civ- 
ilized life were yet enjoyed, no visits were so like those of the 
angels as the visits of a skillful mechanic. Eli constructed 
marvellous amusements for Mrs. Greene's children. He over- 
came all household difficulties by some ingenious contrivance. 
Mrs. Greene learned to wonder at him, and to believe nothing 
was impossible for him. 

8. One .day, Mrs. Greene entertained a party of her neigh- 
bors. The conversation turned upon the sorrows of the 
planter. That unhappy tenacity with which the seeds of the 
cotton adhered to the fibre was elaborately bemoaned. With 
an urgent demand from England for cotton, with boundless 
lands which grew nothing so well as cotton, it was hard to be 
so utterly baffled. 

9. Mrs. Greene had unlimited faith in her friend Eli. She 
begged him to invent a machine which should separate the 
seeds of cotton from the fibre. Eli was of northern upbringing, 
and had never even seen cotton in seed. He walked in to 
Savannah, and there, with some trouble, obtained a quantity of 
uncleaned cotton. He shut himself in his room, and brooded 
over the difficulty which he had undertaken to conquer. 



266 The United States Reader. 

10. All that winter Eli labored, devising, hammering, build- 
ing up, rejecting, beginning afresh. He had no help. He 
could not even buy tools, but had to make them with bis own 
hands. At length his machine was completed, rude-looking, 
but visibly effective. Mrs. Greene invited the leading men of 
the State to her house. She conducted them in triumph to 
the building in which the machine stood. The owners of un- 
profitable cotton-lands looked on, with a wild flash of hope 
lighting up their desponding hearts. Possibilities of untold 
wealth to each of them lav in that clumsy structure. The 
machine was put in motion. It was evident to all that it could 
perform the work of hundreds of men. Eli had gained a great 
victory for mankind. In that rude log-hut of Georgia, Cotton 
was crowned King, and a new era was opened for America and 
the world. 

11. Ten years after Whitney's cotton-gin was invented, a 
huge addition was made to the cotton-growing districts of 
America. In 1803, Europe enjoyed a short respite from the 
mad Napoleon wars. France had recently acquired from Spain 
vast regions bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, and stretching 
far up the valley of the Mississippi, and westward to the 
Pacific. It was certain that peace in Europe would not last 
long. It was equally certain that when war was resumed 
France could not hold these possessions against the fleets of 
England. America wished to acquire, and was willing to pay 
for them. It was better to sell to the Americans, and equip 
soldiers with the price, than wait till England was ready to 
conquer. Xapoleon sold, and America added Louisiana to her 
vast possessions. 

12. Mark well these two events — the invention of a machine 
for cheaply separating the seeds of cotton from the fibre, and 
the purchase of Louisiana from the French. Out of those two 
events flows the American history of the next half century. 
Not any other event since the War of Independence, not all 
other events put together, have done so much to shape and 
determine the career of the American people. — United States 
of America. 



isi2.] The Nation. 267 

Madison's Administration.— War of 1812.— The fourth 
President of the United States, James Madison of Virginia, was inaugurated at 
Washington, on the 4th of March, 1809, at a crisis in the affairs of the nation 
which required, on the part of the administration, the utmost caution, prudence? 
and resolution. 

Affair between the Little Belt and the President.— In 
May, 1811, an affair occurred which tended to increase the ill feeling which 
then existed between Great Britain and the United States. The British sloop- 
of-war Little Belt, while cruising off the coast of Virginia, fired into the Ameri- 
can frigate President ; but her fire was returned with such heavy broadsides, 
that? in a few minutes, thirty-two of her crew were killed or wounded. 

Battle of Tippecanoe. — About the year 1804, the Indians on the 
western frontiers, incited by British emissaries and influenced by the appeals of 
Tecumseh,* one of their boldest and most active warriors, began to form a 
confederacy against the people of the United States. A brother of Tecumseh, 
known as the " Prophet," who, by his predictions and promises, had acquired 
great influence over the tribes along the Wabash, was a leading agent in the busi- 
ness of bringing about an alliance. 

General Harrison, governor of the Indian territory,marched (in 1811 ) towards 
the western frontier and approached Tippecanoe, the town of the Prophet, situ- 
ated at the junction of the Tippecanoe and Wabash Rivers, in the present 
State of Indiana. The Prophet, in the absence of Tecumseh, at once proposed 
a confei-ence, to take place the next day, and requested the Americans to encamp 
for the night at a place which he designated. Harrison, suspecting treachery, 
ordered his troops to sleep on their arms. This proved a fortunate precau- 
tion, for, early on the following morning (Xov. 7th,), the Indians made a 
furious attack upon the American camp; but, after a desperate and bloody con- 
test of two hours, they were repulsed. This battle ruined the plans which 
Tecumseh had formed ; and his next attempt against the Americans was through 
the alliance which he formed with the English, in 1812. 

War declared against Great Britain. — The United States 
had endeavored to induce the British government to abrogate its " Orders in 
Council," and to negotiate terms for suspending the impressment of American 
seamen, but in vain. That government absolutely refused, and nothing remained 
but war. Accordingly, in June, 1812, the President of the United States, in 
conformity with an act of Congress, issued a proclamation declaring war against 
Great Britain ; and preparations were at once made for raising a large army. 
General Dearborn, of Massachusetts, an officer who had served with credit in 
the Revolution, was appointed commander-in-chief. Before hostilities actually 
commenced, the British government had revoked its "Orders in Council," but 
the " right of impressment " was still insisted upon. 

* Tecumseh, or, as the name is sometimes written, Tecumtha, was a chief of the Shawnee Indians. 
He was born on the banks of the Scioto River, in Ohio, about 1770. The ' ' Prophet's " name was 
Elkswatawa. 



268 The United States Reader. U812. 

First Events of the War, — At the time of the declaration of war, 
General Hull, the governor of Michigan Territory, was marching with two 
thousand men from Ohio to Detroit, his purpose being to accomplish the reduc- 
tion of the hostile Indians of the northwest. In anticipation of the war with 
England, he had been invested with discretionary power to invade Canada. 
Learning, while on the march, that war had been declared, he crossed the De- 
troit River, with the avowed intention of attacking Fort Maiden; but, in- 
stead of at once proceeding, he encamped at Sandwich, eighteen miles distant, 
and thus gave the enemy an opportunity to prepare for defense. In the mean 
time, Fort Mackinaw, an American post situated on an island at the outlet of 
Lake Michigan, was surprised by a force of British and Indians, and captured 
before the garrison had even heard of the declaration of war. 

Surrender of Detroit. — A detachment which Hull had sent to con- 
voy a supply-train for his army, was met near Brownstown (Aug. 5th) and 
utterly defeated ; but four days later, a second detachment, under Colonel Mil- 
ler, encountered and routed the enemy. In the meantime Hull, after nearly a 
month's idleness in Canada, recrossed the river, and took post at Detroit. To 
this place he was, in a few day , followed by General Brock, commanding 
thirteen hundred British and Indians. The Americans were confident of vic- 
tory in the battle which seemed about to take place, yet, to their great indigna- 
tion, Hull ordered the white Hag to be shown, in token of submission (Aug. 16). 
By this act, not only Detroit, but the whole territory of Michigan, passed into 
the hands of the enemy. 

Trial of Hall . — Hull's conduct, two years after, underwent examina- 
tion liv a court-martial, and thoughhe was acquitted of treason, the court pro- 
nounced him guilty of cowardice, and he was sentenced to be shot; but, in 
consideration of his age and revolutionary services, the sentence was remitted 
l.y President Madison. Hull's* conduct was severely criticised at the time, as 
well as in after year- ; but a series of letters which he published in 1824, and a 
volume which appeared at a still later period, together form a complete vindica- 
tion of his surrender, as regards either the charge of treason or cowardice. 

Battle of Queenstown.— J. T. HeadZey. 

1. The northern army, numbering between eight and ten 
thousand soldiers, was principally concentrated at two points. 
One portion was encamped near Plattsburg and Greenbush, 
commanded by General Dearborn in person; the other, at 
Lewistown, was under the direction of General Stephen Van 
Rensselaer, of the New York militia, while one thousand five 

* William Hull was born in Connecticut, in 1753. He was in the battles of White Plains, Tren- 
ton, Princeton, Bemis Heights, Saratoga, Monmouth, and Stony Point ; and in all of them fought 
with courage. His death occurred in Massachusetts, iu 1825. 



1812.] The Nation. 269 

hundred regulars,, under General Smythe, lay at Buffalo, a few 
miles distant. There were a few troops stationed also at Og- 
denshurg, Sackett's Harbor, and Black Eock. 

2. The discontent produced by Hull's surrender, and the 
loud complaints against the inaction of the northern army, to- 
gether with the consciousness that something must be done to 
prevent the first year of war from closing in unmixed gloom, 
induced General Van Kensselaer to make a bold push into Can- 
ada, and by a sudden blow attempt to wrest Jamestown from 
the enemy, and there establish his winter quarters. The cut- 
ting out of two English brigs from under the guns of Fort 
Erie, by Lieutenant Elliot, with some fifty volunteers, created 
an enthusiasm in the American camp, of which General Van 
Eensselaer determined to avail himself. 

3. The command of the expedition was given to his cousin, 
Colonel Solomon Van Eensselaer, a brave and chivalric officer, 
who, on the 13th of October, at the head of three hundred 
militia, accompanied by Colonel Chrystie with three hundred 
regular troops, prepared to cross the river. It wanted still an 
hour to daylight when the two columns stood in battle array 
on the shore. Through carelessness, or inability to obtain 
them, there were not sufficient boats to take all over at once, 
and they were compelled to cross in detachments. The boat 
which carried Colonel Chrystie being badly managed, was swept 
away by the current, and finally compelled to re-land on the 
American shore. This gallant officer was wounded while thus 
drifting in the stream, yet soon after he made another attempt 
to cross, and, succeeding, led his troops nobly until the close of 
the action. 

4. Colonel Van Eensselaer, having effected a landing, formed 
on the shore and marched forward. The whole force at this 
time did not exceed one hundred men. These, however, were 
led up the bank, where they halted to wait the junction of the 
other troops, that kept arriving, a few boat-loads at a time. 
But daylight now having dawned, the exposed position of this 
detachment rendered it a fair mark for the enemy, who imme- 
diately opened their fire upon it. In a few minutes every com- 



270 The United States Reader. [1812. 

missioned officer was either killed or wounded. Colonel Van 
Kensselaer, finding that the bank of the river afforded very 
little shelter, determined, with the handful under him, to storm 
the heights. But he had now received four wounds, and was 
compelled to surrender the command to Captains Ogilvie and 
Wool, who gallantly moved forward, and carried the fort and 
heights. 

5. The enemy were driven into a strong stone house, from 
which they made two unsuccessful attempts to recover the 
ground they had lost. Brock, flushed with the easy victory he 
had gained over Hull, rallied them by his presence, and, while 
attempting to lead on the grenadiers of the 49th, fell mortally 
wounded. This, for a time, gave the Americans undisturbed 
possession of the heights, and great efforts were made to bring 
over other troops. General Van Rensselaer, after the fall of his 
cousin, crossed and took the command, but hastening back to 
urge on the embarkation of the militia, it devolved on General 
Wads worth. 

6. Daylight had seen this brave little band form on the 
shores of the river under a galling fire; the morning sun glit- 
tered on their bayonets from the heights of Queenstown, and 
the victory seemed won. The day so gloriously begun would 
have closed in brighter effulgence, had not the militia on the 
farther side refused to cross over to the assistance of their 
hard-pressed comrades. A stone house near the bank, defended 
by two light pieces of artillery, still played on the boats that 
attempted to cross; and the Americans on the Canada side, 
having no heavy artillery, were unable to take it. 

7. The firing from this, and soon after the appearance of a 
large body of Indians on the field of battle, so frightened the 
militia, that neither entreaties nor threats could induce them 
to embark. Through utter want of orderly management, half 
of the twenty boats had been destroyed or lost ; still it was not 
the lack of means of transportation that held them back, but 
conscientious scruples about invading an enemy's territory. 
Attempting to mask their cowardice under this ridiculous plea, 
they stood and saw the dangers thicken around their comrades 



1812.] The Nation. 271 

who had relied on their support, without making a single effort 
to save them from destruction. 

8. Lieutenant-Colonel Scott, by a forced march through mud 
and rain, had arrived at Lewis town with his regiment at four 
o'clock in the morning, just as the troops weve embarking. 
He begged permission to take part in the expedition, but the 
arrangements having all been made, his request was denied. 
He therefore planted his guns on the shore and opened his fire 
upon the enemy. But seeing how small a proportion of the 
troops were got across, and perceiving also the peril of Van 
Rensselaer's detachment, his young and gallant heart could not 
allow him to remain an idle spectator; aud, taking one piece 
of artillery, he jumped into a boat with his adjutant, Roach, 
and pushed for the opposite shore. 

9. Wadsworth immediately gave the command of the troops 
to him, and his chivalric bearing and enthusiastic language 
soon animated every heart with new courage. Six feet five 
inches in height and in full uniform, he presented a conspicuous 
mark for the enemy and a rallying-point to the troops. Had 
his regiment been with him, Queenstown would have been a 
second Chippewa. 

10. Considerable reinforcements, however, had arrived, swell- 
ing the number to six hundred, of whom three hundred and 
fifty were regular troops. These, Scott, assisted by the cool 
and skillful Captain Zitten, soon placed in the most command- 
ing positions, and waited for further reinforcements. Just 
before, a body of five hundred Indians, whom the firing had 
suddenly collected, joined the beaten light-troops of the English. 
Encouraged by this accession of strength, the latter moved 
again to the assault, but were driven back in confusion. 

11. Still the enemy kept up a desultory engagement. On 
one occasion, the Indians, issuing suddenly from the forest, 
surprised a picket of militia, and following hard on their flying 
traces, carried consternation into that part of the line. Scott, 
who was in the rear, showing the men how to unspike a gun, 
hearing the tumult, hastened to the front, and rallying a few 
platoons v , scattered those wild warriors with a single blow. But 

12* 



±j2 The United States Reader. [1812. 

while the day was wearing away in this doubtful manner, a 
more formidable foe appeared on the field. 

12. General Sheaffe, commanding at Fort George, had heard 
the firing in the morning; and, a little later, the news of the 
death of Brock was brought him. His forces were immediately 
put in motion ; and, soon after mid-day, the little band that 
had from day-dawn bravely breasted the storm, saw from the 
heights they had so bravely won, a column, eight hundred and 
fifty strong, approaching the scene of combat — not in haste or 
confusion, but with the slow and measured tread, of disciplined 
troops. These few hundred Americans watched its progress 
with undaunted hearts, and turned to catch the outlines of their 
own advancing regiments, but not a bayonet was moving to 
their help. 

13. At this critical moment news arrived of the shameful 
mutiny that had broken out on the opposite shore. The en- 
treaties of Van Rensselaer, and the noble example of Wadsworth, 
and the increasing peril of their comrades, were wholly 
unavailing — not a soul would stir. This sealed the fate of the 
American detachment. A few hundred, sustained by only one 
piece of artillery, against the thirteen hundred of the enemy — ' 
their number when the junction of the advancing column with 
the remaining troops and the Indian allies should be effected — 
constituted hopeless odds. 

14. General Van Rensselaer, from the opposite shore, saw this, 
and sent word to Wadsworth to retreat at once, and he would 
smd every boat he could lay hands on to receive the fugitives, 
lie, however, left everything to the judgment of the latter. 
Colonels Chrystie and Scott, of the regulars, and Mead, Strahan, 
and Allan of the militia, and officers Ogilvie, Wool, Totten, and 
Gibson, McChesney, and others, presented a noble yet sorrowful 
group, as they took council over this message of the com- 
mander-in-chief. Their case was evidently a hopeless one, yet 
they could not make up their minds to retreat. 

15. Colonel Scott, mounting a log in front of his troops, 
harangued them in a strain worthy of the days of chivalry. 
He told them their condition was desperate, but that Hull's 



1812.] The Nation. 273 

surrender must be redeemed. " Let us then die," lie exclaimed, 
"arms in hand. Our country demands the sacrifice. The ex- 
ample will not be lost. The blood of the slain will make heroes 
of the living. Those who follow will avenge our fall, and our 
country's wrongs. Who dare to stand?" A loud "All!"' 
rang sternly along the line. In the meantime General Sheaffe 
had arrived, but instead of advancing immediately to the at- 
tack, slowly marched his column the whole length of the 
American line, then countermarched it, as if to make sure that 
the little band in front of him was the only force he had to 
overcome. 

16. All saw at a glance that resistance was useless, and retreat 
almost hopeless. The latter, however, was resolved upon ; but 
the moment the order was given to retire, the whole broke in 
disorderly flight toward the river. To their dismay, no boats 
were there to receive them, and a flag of truce was therefore 
sent to the enemy. The messenger, however, never returned; 
another and another shared the same fate. At last Scott tied 
a white handkerchief to his sword, and, accompanied by Cap- 
tains Totten and Gibson, crept under one of the precipices, 
down the river, till he arrived where a gentle slope gave an easy 
ascent, when the three made a push for the road, w r hich led 
from the valley to the heights. 

17. On the w r ay they were met by Indians, wdio, firing on them, 
rushed forward with their tomahawks, to kill them. They 
would soon have shared the fate of the other messengers, but 
for the timely arrival of a British officer, with some soldiers, 
who took them to General Sheaffe, to whom Scott surrendered 
his wdiole force. Two hundred and ninety-three were all that 
survived of the brave band w r ho had. struggled so long and so 
nobly for victory, Several hundred militia, however, were 
found concealed along the shore, w r ho had crossed over, but 
skulked away in confusion. The entire loss of the Americans 
in this unfortunate expedition, killed and captured, was about 
one thousand men. General Van Rensselaer, disgusted with 
the conduct of the militia, soon after sent in his resignation. 

18. Brock was buried the following day, " under one of the 



274 The United States Reader. [loiar. 

bastions of Fort George;" and, at the request of Scott, then a 
prisoner, minute-guns were fired from Fort Niagara during the 
funeral ceremonies. Above the dull roar of the cataract, the 
minute-guns of friends and foes pealed over the dead, as, with . 
shrouded banners, the slowly-marching column bore him to his 
last resting-place. Cannon that but a few hours before had been 
exploding in angry strife on each other, now joined their peaceful 
echoes over his grave. Such an act was characteristic of Scott, 
who, tierce and fearless in battle, was chivalrous and kind in 
all li is feelings. 

19. While a prisoner in an inn at Niagara, Scott was told 
iliat some one wished to see the "tall American." He immedi- 
ately passed through into the entry, when to his astonishment 
he .-aw standing before him two savage Indian chiefs, the same 
who had attempted to kill him when he surrendered himself a 
prisoner of war. They wished to look on the man at whom 
(hey had bo often fired with a deliberate aim. In broken En- 
glish, and by gestures, they inquired where he was hit, for they 
believed it impossible that out of fifteen or twenty shots not 
one had taken effect. The elder chief, named Jacobs, a tall, 
powerful savage, became furious at Scott's asserting that not a 
ball hail touched him, and seizing his shoulders rudely, turned 
him round to examine his back. 

20. The young and fiery colonel did not like to have such 
freedom taken with his person by a savage, and, hurling him 
fiercely aside, exclaimed : " Off, villain ! you fired like a squaw." 
" We kill you now," \yas the quick and startling reply, as knives 
and tomahawks gleamed in their hands. Scott was not a man 
to beg or run, though either would have been preferable to tak- 
ing his chances against these armed savages. Luckily for him, 
the swords of the American officers who had been taken pris- 
oners were stacked under the staircase, beside which he was 
standing. 

21. Quick as thought, he snatched up the largest, a long 
sabre, and the next moment it glittered unsheathed above his 
head. One leap backward, to get scope for play, and he stood 
towering even above the gigantic chieftain, who glared in sav- 



isi2.] The Nation. 2jS 

age hate upon him. The Indians were in the wider part of the 
hall, between the foot of the stairs and the door, while Scott 
stood farther in, where it was narrower. The former, there- 
fore, could not get in the rear, and were compelled to face their 
enemy. They manoeuvred to close, but at every turn that 
sabre flashed in their eyes. The moment they should come to 
blows, one, they knew, was sure to die ; and although it was 
equally certain that Scott would fall under the knife of the 
survivor before he could regain his position, yet neither Indian 
seemed anxious to be the sacrifice. 

22. While they thus stood watching each other, a British, 
officer chanced to enter, and, on beholding the terrific tableau v , 
cried out, "The guard!" and at the same instant seized the 
tallest chieftain by the arm, and presented a cocked pistol to 
his head. The next moment the blade of Scott quivered over 
the head of the other savage, to protect his deliverer. In a few 
seconds the guard entered with leveled bayonets, and the two 
chieftains were secured. One of them was the son of Brant, 
of Kevolutionary notoriety. 

23. The prisoners were all taken to Quebec, whence they 
were sent in a cartel v to Boston. As they were about to sail, 
Scott, who was in the cabin of the transport, hearing a noise 
on deck, went up to ascertain the cause, and found that the 
British officers were separating the Irishmen, to exclude them 
from mercy due to the other prisoners, and have them taken to 
England and tried for treason. Twenty-three had thus been set 
apart when he arrived. Indignant at this outrage, he peremp- 
tory^ ordered the rest of the men to keep silent, and not 
answer a question of any kind, so that neither by their replies 
nor voice could they give, any evidence of the place of their 
birth. He then turned to the doomed twenty-three, and de- 
nounced the act of the officers, and declared most solemnly that 
if a hair of their heads were touched he would avenge it, even 
if he were compelled to refuse quarter in battle. 

21. Soon after he reached Boston, he was sent to Washington, 
and in a short time was exchanged. He then drew up a report 
of the whole affair to the Secretary of War, and it was pre- 



276 The United States Reader. [1812. 

sen ted the same day to Congress. The result was the passage 
of an act of retaliation' (March 3d, 1813). — History of the 
Second War with England. 

Naval Events. — The triumphs of the Americans on the ocean during 
1812 were as decided as their reverses on the land. There were five important 
naval battles, in every one of which the Americans were victorious. The first 
was the capture (Aug. 13th ) of the sloop Alert, by the frigate Essex, Captain 
Porter. Six days after, the frigate Constitution, Captain Hull, captured the 
Guerrierre (gure-e-Hre' ) , after an action of about forty minutes. 

Capture of the Guerriere by the Constitution. 
Cooper, 

1. In the meanwhile, the Constitution was not idle. Remain- 
ing at Boston a short time, Captain Hull sailed again on the 
2d of August, standing along the land to the eastward, in the 
hope of falling in with some of the enemy's cruisers, that were 
thought to he hovering on the coast. The ship ran down, near 
the land, as far as the Bay of Fundy, without seeing anything, 
when she went off Halifax and Cape Sable, with the same want 
of success. Captain Hull now determined to go farther east, 
and he went near the isle of Sables, and thence to the mouth of 
tin" Gulf of St. Lawrence, to intercept vessels bound to Halifax 
or Quebec. 

2. Here two prizes, of little value, were taken and burned. 
On the morning of the loth, five sail were made, one of which 
was a sloop-of-war. The Constitution followed a ship, which 
turned out to be an Englishman, already a prize to an Ameri- 
can privateer. This vessel had been spoken by the sloop-of-war, 
but the appearance of the Constitution prevented her recapture. 
A brig was next chased to leeward, and proved to be an Ameri- 
can, with a prize-crew on board. She was retaken, and sent in. 
The remainder of the vessels escaped. 

3. The Constitution next stood to the southward, and on the 
10 th, at two p.m., in lat, 41°41', long. 55° 48', a sail was made from 
the mast-heads, bearing E.S.E., and to leeward, though the dis- 
tance prevented her character from being discovered. The 
Constitution immediately made sail in chase, and at three, the 



i8i2.] The Nation, 277 

stranger was ascertained to be a ship on the starboard tack, 
under easy canvas, and close-hanled. Half an hour later, she 
was. distinctly made out to be a frigate, and no doubts were en- 
tertained of her being an enemy. The American ship kept 
running free until she was within a league of the frigate to lee- 
ward, when she began to shorten sail. By this time, the enemy 
had laid his main-topsail aback, in waiting for the Constitution 
to come down, with everything ready to engage. 

4. Perceiving that the Englishman sought a combat, Captain 
Hull made his own preparations with the greater deliberation. 
The Constitution, consequently, furled her top-gallant-sails, and 
stowed all her light stay-sails and flying-jib. Soon after, she 
took a second reef in the top-sails, hauled up the courses, sent 
down royal yards, cleared for action, and beat to quarters. At 
five, the chase hoisted three English ensigns, and immediately 
after she opened her fire at long gun-shot, wearing* several times, 
to rake and prevent being raked. The Constitution occasion- 
ally yawed* as she approached, to avoid being raked, and she 
fired a few guns as they bore, but her object was not to com- 
mence the action seriously, until quite close. 

5. At six o'clock the enemy bore up and ran off, under his 
three top-sails and jib, with the wind on his quarter. As this 
was an indication of a readiness to receive his antagonist in 
a fair yard-arm and yard-arm fight, the Constitution imme- 
diately set her main -top-gallant-sail and foresail, to get along- 
side. At a little after six, the bows of the American frigate 
began to double on the quarter of the English ship, when she 
opened with her forward guns, drawing slowly ahead, with her 
greater way, both vessels keeping up a close and heavy fire, as 
their guns bore. 

6. In about ten minutes, or just as the ships w r ere fairly side 
by side, the mizzen-mast of the Englishman was shot away, 
when the American passed slowly ahead, keeping up a tremen- 
dous fire, and luffed* short round on her bows, to prevent being 
raked. In executing this manoeuvre, the ship shot into the 
wind, got sternway, and fell foul- of her antagonist. While in 
this situation, the cabin of the Constitution took fire from the 



2/8 The United States Reader. [is 12. 

close explosion of the forward guns of the enemy, who obtained 
a .small, but momentary advantage from his position. The 
good conduct of Mr. Hoffman, who commanded in the cabin, 
soon repaired this accident, and a gun of the enemy's, that 
threatened further injury, was disabled. 

7. As the vessels touched, both parties prepared to board. 
The English turned all hands up from below, and mustered 
forward, with that object, while Mr. Morris, the first lieutenant', 
with his own hands endeavored to lash the ships together. 
Mr. Alwyn, the master, and Mr. Bush, the lieutenant of the 
marines, were upon the taffrail v of the Constitution, to be ready 
to spring. Both sides now suffered by the closeness of the 
musketry; the English much the more, however. Mr. Morris 
was shot through the body, the bullet fortunately missing the 
vitals. Mr. Alwyn was wounded in the shoulder, and Mr. Bush 
fell dead by a bullet through the head. It being found impos- 
sible for either party to board, in the face of such fire, and with 
the heavy sea that was on, the sails were filled, and just as the 
Constitution shot ahead, the foremast of the enemy fell, carry- 
ing down with it his mainmast, and leaving him wallowing 
in the trough of the sea, a helpless wreck. 

8. The Constitution now hauled aboard her tacks, ran off a 
short distance, secured her masts, and rove new rigging. At 
si v in, she wore round, and taking a favorable position for rak- 
ing, a jack, that had been kept flying on the stump of the 
mizzen-mast of the enemy, was lowered. Mr. George Campbell 
Read, the third lieutenant, was sent on board the prize, and 
the boat soon returned with the report that the captured vessel 
was the Guerriere, 38 guns, Captain Dacres, one of the ships 
that had so lately chased the Constitution, oif New York. 

9. The Constitution kept wearing to remain near her prize, 
and at two A.M. a strange sail was seen closing, when she 
cleared for action; but at three the stranger stood off. At 
daylight, the officer in charge hailed, to say that the Guerriere 
had four feet of water in her hold, and that there was danger 
of her sinking. On receiving this information, Captain Hull 
sent all his boats to remove the prisoners. Fortunately, the 



i8i2.] The Nation. 279 

weather was moderate, and by noon this duty was nearly ended. 
At three pgn:. the prize-crew was recalled, having set the wreck 
on fire, and in a quarter of an hour she blew up. Finding his 
ship filled with wounded prisoners, Captain Hull now returned 
to Boston, where he arrived on the 30th of the same month. 

10. It is not easy, at this distant day, to convey to the reader 
the full force of the moral impression created in America by 
this victory of one frigate over another. So deep had been the 
effect produced on the public mind by the constant accounts 
of the successes of the English over their enemies at sea, that 
the opinion, already mentioned, of their invincibility on that 
element, generally prevailed ; and it had been publicly pre- 
dicted that, before the contest had continued six months, Brit- 
ish sloops-of-war would lie alongside of American frigates with 
comparative impunity. Perhaps the only portion of even the 
American population that expected . different results was that 
which composed the little body of officers on whom the trial 
would fall ; and they looked forward to the struggle with a 
manly resolution, rather than with a very confident hope. 

11. But the termination of the combat just related far ex- 
ceeded the expectations of even the most sanguine. After 
making all proper allowance for the difference of force, which 
certainly existed in favor of the Constitution, as well as for the 
excuses that the defeated party freely offered to the world, men 
on both sides of the Atlantic, who were competent to form in- 
telligent opinions on such subjects, saw the promise of many 
future successes in this. The style in which the Constitution 
had been handled; the deliberate and yet earnest manner in 
which she had been carried into battle ; the extraordinary 
execution that had been made in a short time by her fire ; the 
readiness and gallantry with which she had cleared for action, 
so soon after destroying one British frigate, in which was 
manifested a disposition to meet another, united to produce a 

'deep conviction of self-reliance, coolness, and skill, that was of 
infinitely more weight than the transient feeling which might 
result from any accidental triumph. — Naval History of the 
United States. 



280 The United States Reader. [is 12. 

Other Naval Victories. — In October the sloop Wasp, Captain Jones, 
captured the Frolic ; but scarcely had the prize been taken possession of, when 
an English ship of 74 guns hove in sight, and captured both vessels. 

Just one week after (Oct. 25th), the frigate United States, Commodore 
Decatur, after an action of nearly two hours, west of the Canary Islands, com- 
pelled the Macedonian to surrender. A little more than two months later, the 
Constitution, then commanded by Commodore Bainbridgc,* gained her second 
victory, in the capture of the Java. The action took place off the coast of 
Brazil (Dec. 29th), and lasted nearly two hours. 

Hie Const it lit ion. — The gallant Constitution, or "Old Ironsides," as 
she was affectionately called in the navy, continued in active service during 
this war. Cooper remarks, " In the course of two years and nine months, this 
ship had been in three actions, had been twice critically chased, and had cap- 
tured five vessels-of-war, two of which were frigates, and a third frigate-built. 
In all her service, as well before Tripoli as in this war, her good fortune was 
remarkable. She never was dismasted, never got ashore, or scarcely ever 
suffered any of the usual accidents of the sea. Though so often in battle, no 
very serious slaughter ever took place on board her. One of her commanders 
was wounded, and four of her lieutenants had been killed, two on her own 
decks, and two in the Intrepid ; but, on the whole, her entire career had been 
that of what is usually called a ' lucky ship.' Her fortune, however, may 
perhaps be explained in the simple fact, that she had always been well com- 
manded. In her two last cruises, she had probably possessed as fine a crew as 
ever manned a frigate. They were principally New England men, and it has 
been said of tlicm, that they were almost qualified to fight the ship without her 
officers." 

Old Ironsides. — O. W. Holmes. 

[The following lines were called forth by a rumor that the frigate Constitution was 
about to be broken up as unfit for service.] 

1. Ay, tear her tattered ensign down ! 

Long has it waved on high, 
And many an eye has danced to see 

That banner in the sky: 
Beneath it rung the battle-shout, 

And burst the cannon's roar ; 
The meteor of the ocean-air 

Shall sweep the clouds no more. 

* William Bainbridge was born in Princeton, N. J., in 1774. In 1803 he was in command of the 
frigate Philadelphia when that vessel struck on a rock and was captured in the harbor of Tripoli. 
He and his crew, of more than three hundred persons, were taken prisoners by the TripoliUns and 
held in captivity nineteen months, lie died in Philadelphia, in 1833. 



1812.] The Nation. 281 

2. Her deck, once red with heroes' blood, 

Where knelt the vanquished foe, 
When winds were hurrying o'er the flood, 

And waves were white below, 
No more shall feel the victor's tread, 

Or know the conquered knee ; 
The harpies of the shore shall pluck 

The eagle of the sea. 

3. Oh, better that her shattered hulk 

Should sink beneath the wave ; 
Her thunders shook the mighty deep, 

And there should be her grave. 
Nail to the mast her holy flag, 

Set every threadbare sail, 
And give her to the god of storms — 

The lightning and the gale. 

Operations of American Privateers.— hv the belief that the 
navy of the United States would be entirely destroyed or captured by that of 
England, it had been decided, at the beginning of the war, to lay up our ships 
to save them. But, happily, that policy was soon departed from. American 
privateers v , too, scoured the ocean, and British commerce suffered in every direc- 
tion. During the year 1812, more than three hundred vessels, with not less 
than three thousands prisoners, besides valuable cargoes, were taken by the 
Americans. 

Opposition to the JVar. — The war was unpopular with very many, 
particularly the Federalists, who thought that the administration could have 
avoided it ; and that it greatly imperilled the interests and safety of the country 
without any corresponding advantage. In February, 1813, a resolution offered 
in the House of Representatives to raise twenty additional regiments in order 
to prosecute the war, met with considerable opposition. Henry Clay, then a 
member of the House, however, sustained the administration and defended the 
policy of the war with all his characteristic eloquence. The followiug is an 
extract from his great speech on that occasion. 

Necessity of the War of 1812. — Henry Clay. 

1. This war was declared because Great Britain arrogated to 
herself the pretension of regulating our foreign trade, under the 
delusive name of Retaliatory Orders in Council — a pretension 
by which she undertook to proclaim to American enterprise, 
"thus far shalt thou go, and no farther" — orders which she 



282 The United States Reader. [is 12. 

refused to revoke, after the alleged cause of their enactment 
had ceased; because she persisted in the practice of impress- 
ing American seamen ; because she had instigated the Indians 
to commit hostilities against us; and because she refused in- 
demnity for her past injuries upon our commerce. 

2. I throw out of the question other wrongs. The war, in 
fact, was announced, on our part, to meet the war which she 
was waging on her part. So undeniable were the causes of 
the war. so powerfully did they address themselves to the feel- 
ings of the whole American people, that when the bill was 
pending before this House, gentlemen in the opposition, al- 
though provoked to debate, would not, or could not, utter one 
syllable against it 

3. I have no hesitation in saying that I have always con- 
sidered the impressment of American seamen as much the 
most serious aggression. But, sir, how have those Orders at 
last been repealed? Great Britain, it is true, has intimated a 
willingness to suspend their practical operation, but she still 
arrogates to herself t lie right to revive them upon certain con- 
tingencies, of which she constitutes herself the sole judge. 
She temporarily waives the use of the rod, but she suspends it, 
in terrorem, over our heads. 

4. Supposing it to be conceded to gentlemen, that such an 
appeal of the Orders in Council as took place on the twenty- 
third of .June last, exceptionable as it is, being known before 
the war was proclaimed, would have prevented it, does it follow 
that it ought to induce us to lay down our arms without the 
redress of any other injury of which we complain? Does it 
follow, in all cases, that that which would in the first instance 
have prevented the war, would also terminate it? By no 
means. It requires a strong and powerful effort in a nation 
prone to peace as this is, to burst through its habits, and en- 
counter the difficulties and privations of war. Such a nation 
ought but seldom to embark in a belligerent contest ; but when 
it does, it should be for obvious and essential rights alone, and it 
should firmly resolve to extort, at all hazards, their recognition. 

5. The War of the Revolution is an example of a war begun 



is 12.] The Nation. 283 

for one object and prosecuted for another. It was waged, in its 
commencement, against the right asserted by the parent coun- 
try to tax the Colonies. Then, no one thought of absolute, 
independence. The idea of independence was repelled. Sub- 
sequently, the British government would have relinquished the 
principle of taxation. The founders of our liberties saw, however, 
that there was no security short of independence, and they 
achieved that independence. 

6. When nations are engaged in war, those rights in contro- 
versy, which are not acknowledged by the treaty of peace, are 
abandoned. And who is prepared to say, that American seamen 
shall be surrendered as victims to the British principle of 
impressment ? And, sir, what is this principle ? She contends 
that she has a right to the services, of her own subjects; and 
that, in the exercise of this right, she may lawfully impress 
them, even although she finds them in American vessels, upon 
the high seas, without her jurisdiction. 

7. Now, I deny that she has any right, beyond her jurisdic- 
tion, to come on board our vessels, upon the high seas, for any 
other purpose than in the pursuit of enemies, or their goods, or 
goods contraband'' of war. But she further contends that her 
subjects cannot renounce their allegiance 7 to her, and contract 
a new obligation to other sovereigns. I do not mean to go into 
the general question of expatriation 7 . If, as is contended, all 
nations deny it, all nations, at the same time, admit and prac- 
tice the right of naturalization. Great Britain herself does 
this. - Great Britain, in the very case of foreign seamen, im- 
poses, perhaps, fewer restraints upon naturalization than any 
other nation. 

8. Then, if subjects cannot break their original allegiance, 
they may, according to universal usage, contract a new allegi- 
ance. What is the effect of this double obligation ? Undoubt- 
edly, that the sovereign, having pre-possession of the subject, 
would have the right to the services of the subject. If he 
return within the jurisdiction of his primitive sovereign, he 
may resume his right to his services, of which the subject, by 
his own act, could not divest himself. But his primitive sov- 



284 The United States Reader. [is 12. 

ereign can have no right to go in quest of him, out of his own 
jurisdiction, into the jurisdiction of another sovereign, or upon 
the high seas, where there exists either no jurisdiction, or it is 
pre-possessed by the nation owning the ship navigating them. 

9. But, sir, this discussion is altogether useless. It is not to 
the British principle, objectionable as it is, that we are alone to 
look ; it is to her practice, no matter what guise she puts on. 
It ds in vain to assert the inviolability of the obligation of alle- 
giance. It is in vain to set up the plea of necessity, and to 
allege that she cannot exist without the impressment of her 
seamen. The naked truth is, she comes, by her press-gangs, 
on board of our vessels, seizes our native as well as naturalized 
seamen, and drags them into her service 

10. We are told, by gentlemen in the opposition, that govern- 
ment has not done all that was incumbent on it to do, to avoid 
just cause of complaint on the part of Great Britain; that, in 
particular, the certificates of protection, authorized by the Act 
of 1796, are fraudulently used. Sir, government has done too 
much in granting those paper protections. I can never think 
of them without being shocked. They resemble the passes 
which the master grants to his negro-slave: "Let the bearer, 
Mungo, pass and repass without molestation." 

11. What do they imply ? That Great Britain has a right 
to seize all who are not provided with them. From their very 
nature, they must be liable to abuse on both sides. If Great 
Britain desires a mark by which she can know her own sub- 
jects, let her give them an ear-mark. The colors that float 
from the mast-head should be the credentials of our seamen. 
There is no safety to us, and the gentlemen have shown it, but 
in the rule that all who sail under the flag (not being enemies) 
are protected by the flag. 

12. It is impossible that this country should ever abandon 
the gallant tars who have won for us such splendid trophies'. 
Let me suppose that the genius of Columbia should visit one 
of them in the oppressor's prison, and attempt to reconcile him 
to his forlorn and wretched condition. She would say to him, 
in the language of gentlemen on the other side, " Great Britain 



1812.] The Nation, 2 85 

intends you no harm; she did not mean to impress you, but 
one of her own subjects. Having taken you by mistake, I will 
remonstrate, and try to prevail upon her, by peaceable means, 
to release you; but I cannot, my son, fight for you." 

13. If he did not consider this mere mockery, the poor tar 
would address her judgment, and say: "You owe me, my 
country, protection ; I owe you, in return, obedience. I am no 
British subject; lam a native of old Massachusetts, where lived 
my aged father, my wife, my children. I have faithfully discharged 
my duty. Will you refuse to do yours ? " Appealing to her 
passions, he would continue : " I lost this eye in fighting under 
Truxton, with the Insurgente; I got this scar before Tripoli ; I 
broke this leg on board the Constitution, when the Guerriere 
struck." If she remained still unmoved, he would break out 
in the accents of mingled distress and despair: 

" Hard, hard is my fate ! Once I freedom enjoyed, 
Was as happy as happy could be ! 
Oh ! how hard is my fate, how galling these chains ! " 

I will not imagine the dreadful catastrophe' to which he would 
be driven by an abandonment of him to his oppressor. It will 
not be, it cannot be, that his country will refuse him protec- 
tion 

14. An honorable peace is attainable only by an efficient 
war. My plan would be, to call out the ample resources of the 
country, give them a judicious direction, prosecute the war 
with the utmost vigor, strike wherever we can reach the enemy, 
at sea or on land, and negotiate the terms of a peace at Quebec 
or at Halifax. We are told that England is a proud and lofty 
nation, which, disdaining to wait for danger, meets it half-way. 
Haughty as she is, we once triumphed over her ; and, if we do 
not listen to the counsels of timidity and despair, we shall 
again prevail. In such a cause, with the aid of Providence, we 
must come out crowned with success ; but if we fail, let us fail 
like men, lash ourselves to our gallant tars, and expire together 
in one common struggle, fighting for free trade and sea- 
mens' rights. 



286 The United States Reader. [isi3. 

Campaign of 18 13 P — Winchester's Defeat. — For the cam- 
paign of 1813 three armies were raised. That of the West, near the head of 
Lake Erie, was commanded by General Harrison ; that of the Centre, between 
Lakes Erie and Ontario, by General Dearborn ; and that of the North, near 
Lake Champlain, by General Hampton. The leading object of the army of 
the West was to recover Michigan and avenge the defeat of Hull. A division 
of the army, composed mostly of Ken tuckians, eommanded by General Winches- 
ter, reached the Manmee, whence a detachment was sent forward, which drove a 
bodv of British and Indians from Frenehtown. Winchester soon after arrived, 
and wus attacked (Jan. 22d) by fifteen hundred British and Indians, under 
General Proctor. The Americans made a brave defense; but Winchester, who 
had been made a prisoner, agreed upon a capitulation, though at the. time he 
was in the hands of the enemy, and his troops surrendered upon condition that 
they should he protected. But Proctor failed to keep his promise, and many of 
the wounded Americans were murdered by his savage allies. 

Siege of Fort Meigs. — Harrison, who was at the rapids of the Maumee 
when the news of Winchester's defeat reached him, selected a position for de- 
fense, and there built Fort Meigs [megz). On the 1st of May, a large force of 
British and Indians appeared before the place, and at once commenced a siege. 
Four davs after, General Clay* arrived with twelve hundred Kentuckians, and 
successfully attacked the besiegers ; but Proctor continued operations until the 
9th, when, deserted by his Indian allies, he made a disorderly retreat. 

Defense of Fort Stephenson. — His next important move was 
against Fort Stephenson, then garrisoned by one hundred and fifty men, under 
the command of Major Croghan [krog'anft, a young man not twenty-two years 
old. Croghan had but one cannon, a six-pounder. A cannonade was directed 
against the fort until a breach was made, when the enemy (Aug. 2d) attempted 
to carry the place by assault ; but they were met by a volley of musketry and a 
discharge from the six-pounder with such terrible effect, that, panic-struck, they 
fled in confusion, leaving one hundred and fifty of their number killed or 
wounded. 

Perry's Victory on Lake Erie. — During the summer, an American 
and an English squadron were fitted out on Lake Erie — the former commanded 
by Commodore Perry,! and the latter by Commodore Barclay. They met 
(Sept. 10th) near the western extremity of the lake, when a hard-fought battle 
of four hours took place, resulting in a brilliant victory to the Americans, every 
vessel of the enemy having surrendered. In dispatching information of his vic- 

* Green Clay was bom in Virginia, in 1757. After his success in driving the British and Indiana 
from Fort Meigs, ho was left in command there, and prepared to defend the fort when it was a second 
time threatened. He died in 1826. 

+ George Croghan was born in Kentucky, in 1791. He was in the battles of Tippecanoe and Fort 
Meigs i May 5), and served with Taylor in Mexico. His death occurred in New Orleans, in 1819. 

£ Oliver Hazard Perry was born at Newport, R. I., in 1785. He died in 1819, near Port Spain, 
bland of Trinidad, of yellow fever, contracted while he was engaged on government service up the 
Orinoco River, in South America. 



1813.] The Nation. 287 

tory to Harrison, Terry wrote : " We have met the enemy and they are ours." 
The consequences of the victory were highly important. The Americans estab- 
lished their naval supremacy on Lake Erie, Detroit was evacuated by the Brit- 
ish, and the Indians of Michigan were intimidated. 

Battle of the Thames.— Death of Tecumseh.— Harrison, see- 
ing- his opportunity for success, crossed the lake in Perry's fleet, and landed near 
Fort Maiden. But the fort was deserted, and Proctor and Tecumsch were in 
full retreat. Harrison followed in eager pursuit, and, on the 5th of October, 
overtook the enemy at a place on the Thame's (temz). The Americans charged, 
breaking the lines of the British, and soon compelling them to surrender ; but 
the contest with the Indians was more obstinate. At length Tecumseh * fell, 
and the savage warriors fled. The war on the western frontier was terminated. 

Massacre at Fort Minis,— In the spring of 1813, the Indians of 
the South were visited by Tecumseh, and persuaded by him to take up arms 
against the whites. Accordingly, on the last day of August, fifteen hundred 
Indian warriors surprised Fort Minis 1 , on the Alabama River, and massacred 
nearly three hundred men, women, and children. 

Defeat of the Creek Indians.— This sanguinary attack aroused the 
whole South, and a large force, under Generals Jackson and Coffee, marched 
into the country of the Creeks, to avenge the deed of horror. Several victories 
were gained over them in quick succession ; till, at length, a thousand warriors, 
with their women and children, made a final stand at Tohope'ka, or, as the 
■whites called it, the Horse-Shoe Bend of the Tallapoosa River, where they had 
established a camp, skillfully fortified. Here, on the 27th of March, 1814, they 
were attacked by a force of three thousand men, under Jackson. The doomed 
Creeks, being hemmed in on all sides by their assailants, fought with the energy 
of despair, and not till almost six hundred of their number were slain did the 
battle cease : their defeat was complete. 

Camjiaign in Canada. — Toward the latter part of April, 1813, 
General Dearborn, commanding the Army of the Centre, left Sackett's Harbor, 
in Commodore Chauncey's (chahn'se's) fleet, crossed Lake Ontario, and pro- 
ceeded to attack York, now Toronto. On the 27th, the troops landed, led by 
General Pike, and were carrying everything before them, when the enemy's 
magazine exploded, mortally wounding Pile, and making sad havoc among 
his men. After a moment's panic they moved on, and were soon in possession 
of the town. Just one month later (May 27th), the fleet, with Dearborn and his 
army, appeared off Fort George. . The British made but a brief defense of the 
place, and then fled. A detachment nnder Generals Chandler and Win'der, 
sent in pursuit, was unsuccessfully attacked on the night of the 6th of June, 
though both generals were made prisoners. 

* Tecumseh was in the 44th year of his age. He was five feet ten inches high, of a fine form and 
well-proportioned limbs. His carriage was erect and lofty. His eloquence was nervous, concise, im- 
pressive, figurative, and sarcastic. His words, however, were generally few, but always directly to 
the purpose. His ruling maxim was to take no prisoners, neither giving nor accepting quarter. 

13 



288 The United States Reader. [1813. 

Attach on Sa theft's Harbor. — The British in Canada, oh being in- 
formed that Dearborn, with a large body of troops, had sailed from Saekett's 
Harbor, sent a thousand men across the lake to attack the place. General Pre- 
vost', the commander, effected a landing ; but was met (May 29th) by a small 
body of regulars and some militia, under General Brown, and repulsed. 

Invasion of Canada. — Dearborn,- having resigned his command, was 
succeeded by General Wilkinson, and a plan for the invasion of Canada was 
soon devised, by which the Army of the Centre, under Wilkinson, and the Army 
of the North, under Hampton, were to form a junction on the St. Lawrence, 
and proceed against Montreal. 

Battle of Ch raster's Field. — In passing down the St. Lawrence, 
Wilkinson landed a detachment near Williamsburg, to cover the descent of the 
fleet. On the 11th of November, a severe though indecisive engagement took 
place, known as the battle of Chrysler's (Jens' ler's) Field, in which the Ameri- 
cans Mere the greater sufferers. Wilkinson proceeded some distance further, 
but, Hampton failing to co-operate with him, the design against Montreal Avas 
abandoned. 

The Hornet and the Peacock. — Though the American seamen, 
during 1813, were not uniformly successful, their gallantry continued to be 
the theme of admiration. The sloop-of-war Hornet, Captain Lawrence,t en- 
countered the British brig Peacock, off the coast of Guiana (ge-ah'nah), and in 
fifteen minutes compelled her to strike her colors (Feb. 24th). The captured 
vessel sank in a U-w minutes after, carrying down with her nine of her own crew 
and three of the Hornet's. 

The Chesapeake and the Shannon. — On his return to the United 
States, Lawrence was promoted to the command of the frigate Chesapeake, 
then Lying in Bo-ton harbor. In the forenoon of June 1st, the British frigate 
Shannon, Captain Broke, appeared off the harbor to meet the Chesapeake. 
Though the American vessel had imperfect equipments, and an ill-assorted 
crew, while the British ship had a select crew and was in the best possible con- 
dition, Lawrence still felt impelled to go out and engage her. Toward evening 
the two vessels met, and a terrific contest of fifteen minutes ensued. Lawrence 
was mortally wounded in the early part of the action, but his last injunction as 
he was borne below was, " Don't give up the ship." The Chesapeake, after 
haying all her superior officers either killed or wounded, was boarded by the 
enemy, and her flag hauled down. 

The Argus and the P el i can.— The brig Argus, Captain Allen,}: 

* Henry Dearborn was born in New Hampshire, in 1751. He was in the battle of Bunker Hill, 
was with Arnold in the expedition through the wilderness of Maine, and participated in the battle of 
Quebec, where he was taken prisoner, Being exchanged, he served under Gates in the Northern 
campaign , and did good service at the battle of Monmouth, in Sullivan's expedition against the In- 
dians, and in the successful operations before Yorktown. He died in Massachusetts, in 1829. 

T James Lawrence was born in Burlington, New Jersey, in 1781. He was one of Decatur's party 
that boarded and destroyed the frigate Philadelphia in the harbor of Tripoli in 1803. 

t William Henry Allen was born in Itbode Island, in 17S4. He was the first lieutenant of the 
frigate United States, when that vessel captured the Macedonian. 



isi4.] The A T ation. 289 

made a daring cruise in the waters about England, capturing a large number of 
vessels. While in the English Channel, Allen fell in with the brig Pelican ; 
and, in the action which ensued, and which resulted in the capture of the Argus, 
was mortal ly wounded. 

The Enterprise and the JBoxer. — Fortune next favored the Ameri- 
cans. Off the coast of Maine (Sept. 5th), the brig Enterprise, Lieutenant Bur- 
rows, met the British brig Boxer, Captain Blythe, and, after an action of forty 
minutes, captured her. Both commanders fell in the engagement, and their 
bodies were buried side by side, at Portland, with the honors of war. 

Campaign of 1814.— Second Invasion of Canada.— During 
the winter of 1813-14, the army of Gen. Wilkinson* was quartered at French 
Mills. Early in 1814, a detachment under General Brown was sent to Sackett's 
Harbor; and, toward March, the main body removed to Plattsburg. In the 
same month (March), Wilkinson marched into Canada, but being repulsed at 
La Colle, he returned to Plattsburg, and was soon after superseded in the com- 
mand by Gen. Iz'ard. 

Brown did not remain long at Sackett's Harbor, but, having been appointed 
to the command of an army »n the Niagara frontier, he hastened to carry out 
the views of the Secretary of War for another invasion of Canada. On the 3d 
of July his advance, consisting of two brigades under Generals Scott and Rip- 
ley, crossed the Niagara, and captured Fort Erie without a struggle. 

Battles of Chippewa and Lundifs Lane. — The Americans, 
with Brown in command, pushed forward along the western bank of the river, 
and, at Chippewa (chip'pe-waw) on the 5th, gained a brilliant victory over the 
enemy, under Gen. Ri'all. The British retired to the shores of Lake Ontario, 
and there were re-enforced by Gen. Drummond, who took the command. 

Drummond marched against the Americans, and, on the 25th, the battle of 
Lundy's Lane, the most obstinate of the war, occurred. Scott, who led the ad- 
vance, bravely contended against superior numbers, until the arrival of Brown ; 
but, it soon becoming evident that a battery which the enemy held on a height, 
and which swept all parts of the field, must be captm-ed or the Americans be de- 
feated, Col. Miller was asked if he could take it. He promptly answered, " I'll 
try, sir." He did try, and was successful. Three times the British attempted 
to regain their lost battery, but were repulsed at every assault. Finally, at 
midnight, after a contest of six hours, they withdrew, each party losing about 
eight hundred men. Brown and Scott being severely wounded, Gen. Ripley 
conducted the army to Fort Erie, where Gen. Gaines soon after took command. 

JBattles of JPlattsburg and Lake Champlain. — General Ma- 
comb (ma-komb') had been left at Plattsburg by General Izard, with a small 
force consisting of a few hundred men. In September, Sir George Prevost, at 

* James Wilkinson was born in Maryland, in 1757. He served in Canada under Arnold, in 1776, 
and onthe staff of Gates,' in 1777. During Washington's administration, he was engaged on the 
northwestern frontier against the Indians, and commanded one of the divisions of Wayne's army in 
the battle of the Maumee. He subsequently was governor of the Louisiana territory, and an active 
agent in exposing the plans of Burr, in 1806. He died in Mexico, in 1825. 



290 The United States Reader. [is 14. 

the head of fourteen thousand men, marched against Macomb, and, at the same 
time, the British fleet on Lake Champlain, commanded hy Commodore Downie, 
sailed to attack the American fleet under Commodore MacDonough.* The 
battles of Plattsburg and Lake Champlain took place on the 11th. While the 
British, from their batteries, commenced the one on the land, their fleet engaged 
MacDonough's vessels, which were at anchor in the bay of Plattsburg. In a 
little more than two hours MacDonough gained a complete victory. The fire from 
the land-batteries then slackened, and, at nightfall, Prevostmade a hasty retreat, 
having lost in killed, wounded, and desertions, about twenty-five hundred men. 

Boss's Expedition.— Capture of Washington. — During the 
greater part of 1814, the whole Atlantic seaboard was locked up by British 
cruisers, from which descents were often made upon small towns. About the 
middle of August, a squadron of the enemy arrived in Chesapeake Bay, bring- 
ing a large body of troops, commanded by General Ross. This force, it was 
evident, was intended to strike a heavy blow at some of the important cities. 

Boss, with five thousand men, landed at Benedict, on the Patuxent River, 
but met with no opposition. An American flotilla, under Commodore Barney ,f 
was burnt to prevent its falling into the hands okthe British. Ross then pro- 
ceeded to Washington by way of Bladensburg, where he met with some opposi- 
tion from the militia under General Winder. He reached Washington on the 
24th of August ; and, after burning the public buildings and committing a 
great destruction of property, hastily retreated to the shipping in the Patuxent. 

Burning of Washington. — J. T. Ileadlcy. 

1. Cockburn I and Ross, leaving the main army to repose 
itself, took a body-guard, and rode into Washington. No resist- 
ance was offered — a single shot only was fired, which killed the 
horse of General Ross. The house from which it issued was 
formerly occupied by Mr. Gallatin. In a few moments it was in 
dames. I hilling in front of the Capitol, they fired a- volley at 
the edifice and took possession of it in the name of the king. 

2. The troops were then marched in, and entering the Hall 
of Representatives, piled together chairs, desks, and whatever 
was combustible, and applied the torch. The flames passing 

* Thomas HacDonongh was born in New Castle Co., Delaware, in 1783. He was one of Decatur's 
party which boarded and destroyed the frigate Philadelphia in the harbor of Tripoli, in 1803. He died 
at sea, in 1815. 

+ Joshua Barney was born in Baltimore, in 1759. Though he was but a youth at the beginning of 
the Revolution, lie was appointed master's mate in a sloop of-war, in which vessel he aided in captur- 
ing the town of New Providence, on one of the Bahama Islands, lie was engaged in several naval 
enterprises, and was three times made prisoner. His death occurred at Pittsburg, Pa., in 1818. 

$ Rear-admiral Cockburn commanded a part of the British fleet; but the chief command of the 
naval force was held by Sir Alexander Cochrane, as Vice-admiral. 



1814.] The Nation, m 291 

from room to room, soon wrapped the noble library, and burst- 
ing forth from the windows leaped to the roof, enveloping the 
whole edifice in fire, and illuminating the country for miles 
around. The house of Washington and other buildings were 
also set on fire. The remaining British force, lighted by the 
ruddy glow that illuminated the landscape and road along 
which they were marching, entered the city to assist in the 
work of destruction. 

3. In the mean time, the navy-yard was set on fire by order of 
the Secretary of War, mingling its flames and explosions with 
the light and roar of the burning Capitol. The gallant officer 
in command of it had offered to defend it, but was refused per- 
mission. Whether the refusal was discreet or not, one thing is 
certain, the enemy could have accomplished no more than the 
destruction of the materials collected there, and it was not 
worth while to save them the labor. 

4. The Capitol being in flames, Ross and Cockburn led their 
troops along Pennsylvania Avenue to the President's house, a 
mile distant, and soon the blazing pile beaconed back to the 
burning Capitol. The Treasury building swelled the conflagra- 
tion; and, by the light of the flames, Cockburn and Ross sat 
down to supper at the house of Mrs. Suter, whom they had 
compelled to furnish it. Pillage and devastation moved side 
by side through the streets ; while, to give still greater terror 
and sublimity to the scene, a heavy thunder-storm burst over 
the city. From the lurid bosom of the clouds leaped flashes 
brighter than the flames below, followed by crashes that drowned 
the roar and tumult which swelled up from the thronged 
streets, making the night wild and appalling as the last day of 
time. 

5. While these things were transpiring in the city, the Presi- 
dent and his Cabinet were fleeing into Virginia. During the 
battle of Bladensburg, Mrs. Madison had sat in the Presidential 
mansion, listening to the roar of cannon in the distance, and 
anxiously sweeping the road, with her spy-glass, to catch the 
first approach of her husband, but saw instead, "groups of 
military, wandering in all directions, as if there was a lack of 



292 The United States Reader. [isi4. 

arms or of spirit, to fight for their own firesides." A carriage 
stood waiting at the door, tilled with plate and other valuables, 
ready to leave at a moment's warning. The Mayor of the city 
waited on her, urging her to depart; but she bravely refused, 
saying she would not stir till she heard from her husband. 

6. At length, a note from him, in pencil-marks, arrived, 
bidding her flee. Still delaying, till she could detach a portrait 
of Washington, by Stuart, from the wall, her friends remon- 
strated with her. Finding it would take too long to unscrew 
the painting from the walls, she seized a carving-knife, and 
cutting the canvas out, hurried away. At Georgetown she met 
hei husband, who, with his Cabinet, in trepidation and alarm, 
was en route for Virginia. Just as the flames were kindling in 
the Capitol, the President, Mr. Monroe, Mr. Bush, Mr. Mason, 
and Carroll, were assembled on the shores of the Potomac, 
where but one little boat could be found to transport them. 

7. Desponding and sad, they were rowed across in gloom, a 
part at a time, and, mounting their horses, rode hurriedly and 
sadly away. Mrs. Madison returned toward Georgetown, 
accompanied by nine troopers, and stopped ten miles and a half 
from the town. Trembling from the anxiety and fright of the 
day — separated from her husband, now a fugitive in the dark- 
ness — oppressed with fears and gloomy forebodings, she sat 
down by an open window, and through the tears that streamed 
from her eyes, gazed forth on the flames of the burning city, 
and listened with palpitating heart to the muffled shouts and 
tumult that rose in the distance. Before daylight, she, with 
her lady companions, started for a place of rendezvous 7 ap- 
pointed by her husband, sixteen miles from Georgetown. 

8. The 25th of August -dawned gloomily over the smoulder- 
ing city, and the red sun, as he rolled into view, looked on a scene 
of devastation and ruin. From their drunken orgies v , negroes 
and soldiers crawded forth to the light of day, roused by the 
reveille" from the hill of the Capitol, and the morning-gun that 
sent its echoes through the sultry air. — Second War with 
England. 



isi4.] The Nation. 293 

Attaclx Oil Baltimore. — Ross next proceeded against Baltimore. On 
the 12tli of September, he landed his troops at North Point, several miles from 
the city, while sixteen of the enemy's ships sailed up the Patapsco to bombard 
Port McHenry. On his march, Ross was killed in a skirmish, and the progress 
of the troops was then disputed for more than an hour by a body of militia 
under General Strick'er. Next day the enemy encamped near the defenses of 
the city, to await the movements of the fleet. The bombardment of Fort Mc- 
Henry commenced on the morning of the 13th, and continued till near the 
following morning, but without making any serious impression. General 
Brooke, Ross's successor, seeing no prospect of success against the city, em- 
barked his troops, and the whole force of the enemy withdrew. 

The Star-Spangled Banner. — Key. 

[Francis S. Rev, the author of this national ode, accompanied by a Mr. Skinner, had 
been sent with a flag of truce to the British fleet to obtain the release of some prisoners 
taken in Washington. He was obliged to await the bombardment of Fort McHenry; 
and all night long, he and his companion watched from the deck of their vessel, with 
the deepest anxiety, the terrific scene. The bombardment ceased during the night, and 
itAvas uncertain whether the fort had surrendered or not; when, however, "by the 
dawn's early light," they saw that "our flag was still there." they knew that the attack 
had failed ; and Key, in the enthusiasm of the moment, took an old letter from his 
pocket, upon which he wrote most of this celebrated song. It was completed as soon 
as he reached Baltimore, and being circulated through the city, was sung with patriotic 
fervor by the inhabitants, becoming soon afterwards one of the national songs of the 
country.] 

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, 

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming ? 
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, 

O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming : 
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, 
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there : 
Oh, say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ? 

On that shore dimly seen through the mists of.the deep, 
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, 
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, 

As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses ? 
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, 
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream : 
'Tis the Star-Spangled Banner; oh, long may it wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave I 

And where are the foes who so vauntingly swore 
That the havoc of war, and the battle's confusion, 

A home and a country should leave us no more ? 
Their blood has w T ashed out their foul footsteps' pollution ; 



294 The United States Reader, [is 14, 

No refuge could save the hireling and slave 
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave: 
• And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph doth wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ! 

Oh, thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand 

Between their loved homes and the war's desolation ! 
Blest with victory and peace, ma) 7 the heaven-rescued land 

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation ! 
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, 
And this be our motto, " In God is our trust ; " 
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ! 

The Flag of Washington.— F. W. Gillett. 

1. Dear banner of my native land ! ye gleaming, silver stars, 
Broad spotless ground of purity, crossed with your azure bars — 
Clasped by the hero-father's hand — watched over in his might, 
Through battle-hour and day of peace, bright morn and moonless night, 
Because, within your clustering folds, he knew you surely bore 
Dear Freedom's hope for human souls to every sea and shore! 

() precious Flag ! beneath whose folds such noble deeds are done — 
The dear old Flag ! the starry Flag ! the Flag of Washington ! 

2. Unfurl, bright stripes — shine forth, dear stars — swing outward to the 

breeze — 
Go bear your message to the wilds — go tell it on the seas, 
That poor men sit within your shade, and rich men in their pride — 
That beggar-boys and statemen's sons walk 'neath you, side by side 
You guard the school-house on the green, the church upon the hill, 
And fold your precious blessings round the cabin by the rill, 
"While weary hearts from every land beneath the shining sun, 
Find work, and rest, and home beneath the flag of Washington. 

3. And never, never on the earth, however brave they be, 

Shall friends or foes bear down this great, proud standard of the Free, 
Though they around its staff may pour red blood in rushing waves, 
And build beneath its starry folds great pyramids of graves: 
For God looks out, with sleepless eye, upon his children's deeds, 
And sees, through all their good and ill, their sufferings and their 

needs ; 
And he will watch, and he will keep, till human rights are won, 
The dear old Flag ! the starry Flag ! the Flag of Washington ! 



isi5.] The Nation. 295 

Surrender of the Essex. — During 1814, the Americans were gener- 
ally victorious on the ocean ; yet the frigate Essex, Captain Porter,* after a suc- 
cessful cruise of more than a year, was attacked in the harbor of Valparaiso 
(vald-pah-ri'so), March 28th, by two British vessels, and forced to surrender. 
The conflict was one of the most desperate of the war. 

Seizure of Pensacola by Jackson. — During the summer, the 
authorities of Pensacola, then a Spanish port, allowed the British to take pos- 
session of their forts and fit out expeditions against the United States. General 
Jackson, being in command at Mobile, marched to Pensacola at the head of 
three thousand men ; and, negotiations failing, seized the town and compelled 
the British to leave. He then returned to Mobile, whence, learning that the 
British were preparing to invade Louisiana, he hastened to put New Orleans 
in a condition of defense. 

Expedition against Xew Orleans. — Toward the middle of De- 
cember, a British squadron entered Lake Borgne (born), carrying twelve thou- 
sand troops, commanded by Sir Edward Pakenham (pah'n-am), the first object 
of the expedition being to capture New Orleans. On the 14th, a flotilla of 
American gunboats was compelled to surrender; and, on the 23d, Jackson made 
a spirited though ineffectual attack upon an encampment of the enemy's van- 
guard. On the 28th, and again on the first day of the new year, the British were 
unsuccessful in cannonading the intrenchments which Jackson had thrown up 
four miles from the city. 

Battle of Xew Orleans. — On the 8th of January, 1815, the British 
made a general advance against the American intrenchments ; but volley after 
volley was poured upon them with such terrible effect, that they were compelled 
to flee. Pakenham was slain, and two thousand of his men Avere killed, wounded, 
or taken prisoners. The Americans lost only seven killed and six wounded. 

Battle of New Orleans. — JParton. 

1. At one o'clock on the morning of this memorable day 
(Jannary 8th, 1815), on a conch in a room of the McCarty 
Mansion-house, General Jackson lay asleep, in his worn uni- 
form. Several of his aids slept upon the floor in the same 
apartment, all equipped for the field, except that their sword- 
belts were unbuckled, and their swords and pistols laid aside. 
A sentinel paced the adjacent passage, sentinels moved noise- 
lessly about the building, which loomed up large, dim, and. 

* David Porter was born in Boston, Mass., in 1730. When the frigate Philadelphia -was captured 
by the Tripolitans, in 1803, Porter was made captive and held nineteen months In 1824, he com- 
manded an expedition against the pirates of the West Indies. He subsequently entered the service 
of Mexico, as commander-in-chief of her naval forces ; but, in 1829, returned to the United States. 
At the time of his death, which occurred at Constantinople, in 1843, he was resident minister of the 
United States in that city. 

13* 



296 The United States Reader. [I815. 

silent in the foggy night, among the darkening trees. Most 
of those who slept at all that night were still asleep, and there 
was as yet little stir in either camp to disturb their slumbers. 

2. Dreaming of their Scottish hills and homes, their English 
fields and friends, may have been many brave Britons in their 
cold and wet bivouac. tardy science, Oersted (ur' steel), 
Morse, Cyrus Field, why were you not ready with your Oceanic 
Telegraph then, to tell those men of both armies, when they 
woke, that they were not enemies, but friends and brothers, and 
send them joyful into each other's arms, not in madness against 
each other's arms? The ship that bore this blessed news was 
still in mid-ocean, contending with its wintry winds and waves. 
How much would have gone differently in our history if those 
tidings had arrived a few weeks sooner! But it was not to be. 
This tight, it was the decree of Providence, was to be fought 
out 

3. The suspense was soon over. Daylight struggled through 
the mist. About six o'clock both columns were advancing at 
the steady, solid, British pace to the attack; the Forty-Fourth 
nowhere, straggling in the rear with the fascines v and ladders. 
The column soon came up with the American outposts, who at 
firsl retreated, slowly before it, but soon quickened their pace, 
and ran in, bearing their great news, and putting every man in 
the works intensely on the alert; each commander anxious for 
the honor of first getting a glimpse of the foe, and opening fire 
upon him. 

4. Lieutenant Spotts, of battery number six, w T as the first 
man in the American lines who descried through the fog the 
dim, red line of General Gibbs's advancing column, far away 
down the plain, close to the forest. The thunder of his great 
guns broke the dead stillness. Then there was silence again ; 
for the shifting fog, or the altered position of the enemy, con- 
cealed him from view once more. The fog lifted again, and 
soon revealed both divisions, which, with their detached com- 
panies, seemed to cover two-thirds of the plain, and gave the 
Americans a repetition of the splendid military spectacle which 
they had witnessed on the 28th of December. Three cheers 



i8io.] The Nation. 297 

from Carroll's men; three cheers from the Kentuckians behind 
them ; cheers continued from the advancing column, not 
heard yet in the American lines. 

5. Steadily and fast the column of General Gibbs marched 
toward batteries numbered six, seven, and eight, which played 
upon it, at first with but occasional effect, often missing, some- 
times throwing a ball right into its midst, and causing it to 
reel and pause for a moment. Promptly were the gaps filled 
up ; bravely the column came on. As they neared the lines, 
the Avell-aimed shot made more dreadful havoc, " cutting great 
lanes in the column from front to rear/' and tossing men and 
parts of men aloft, or hurling them far on one side. 

6. At length, still steady and unbroken, they came within 
range of the small-arms, the rifles of Carroll's Tennesseans, the 
muskets of Adair s Kentuckians, four lines of sharpshooters, 
one behind the other. General Carroll, coolly waiting for the 
right moment, held his fire till the enemy were within two 
hundred yards, and then gave the word — Fire ! At first, with 
a certain deliberation, afterwards in hottest haste, always with 
deadly effect, the riflemen plied their terrible weapon. 

7. The summit of the embankment was a line of spurting 
fire, except when the great guns showed their liquid, belching 
flash. The noise was peculiar, and altogether indescribable ; — ■ 
a rolling, bursting, echoing noise, never to be forgotten by a 
man that heard it. Along the whole line it blazed and rolled ; 
the British batteries showering rockets over the scene, Patter- 
son's batteries on the other side of the river joining in the 
hellish concert. Imagine it ; ask no one to describe it. Our 
words were mostly made before such a scene had become possible. 

8. The column of General Gibbs, mowed by the fire of the 
riflemen, still advanced, Gibbs at its head. As they caught 
sight of the ditch, some of the officers cried out, " Where are 
the Forty-Fourth ? If we get to the ditch, we have no means 
of crossing and scaling the lines ! " — " Here come the Forty- 
Fourth!" shouted the general; adding, in an undertone, for 
his own private solace, that if he lived till to-morrow, he would 
hang Mullens on the highest tree in the cypress-wood. 



298 The United States Reader, [isi*. 

0. Reassured, tliese heroic men again pressed on, in the face 
of that murderous, slaughtering fire. But this could not last. 
With half its numbers fallen, and all its commanding officers 
disabled except the general, its pathway strewed with dead and 
wounded, and the men falling ever faster and faster, the column 
wavered and reeled (so the American riflemen thought) like a 
red ship on a tempestuous sea. At about a hundred yards 
from the lines, the front ranks halted, and so threw the column 
into disorder, Gibbs shouting in the madness of vexation for 
them to re-form and advance. There was no re-forming under 
such a fire. Once checked, the column could not but break 
and retreat in confusion 

10. Just as the troops began to falter, General Pakenham 
rode up from his post in the rear, toward the head of the 
column. Meeting parties of the Forty-Fourth running about 
distracted, some carrying fascines, others tiring, others in head- 
long flight, their leader nowhere to be seen, Pakenham strove 
to restore them to order, and to urge them on the way they 
were to go. "For shame!'' he cried bitterly; "recollect that 
you are British soldiers. This is the road you ought to take," 
pointing fco the flashing and roaring scene in front. 

11. Hiding on, he was soon met by General Gibbs, who said, 
" I am sorry to have to report to you that the troops will not 
obey me. They will not follow me." Taking off his hat, General 
Pakenham spurred his horse to the very front of the wavering 
column, amid a torrent of rifle-balls, cheering on the troops by 
voice, by gesture, by example. At that moment a ball shat- 
tered his right arm, and it fell powerless to his side. The next, 
his horse fell dead upon the field. 

12. His aid, Captain McDougal, dismounted from his black 
Creole pony, and Pakenham, apparently unconscious of his 
dangling arm, mounted again, and followed the retreating 
column, still calling upon them to halt and re-form. A few 
gallant spirits ran in toward the lines, threw themselves into 
the ditch, plunged across it, and fell scrambling up the sides of 
the soft and slippery breastwork. 

13. Once out of the reach of those terrible rifles, the column 



i8i5.] The Nation. 299 

halted, and regained its self-possession. Laying aside their 
heavy knapsacks, the men prepared for a second and more 
resolute advance. They were encouraged, too, by seeing the 
superb Highlanders marching up in solid phalanx v to their sup- 
port, with a front of a hundred men, their bayonets glittering 
in the sun, which had then begun to pierce the morning mist. 
~Now for an irresistible onset ! 

14. At a quicker step, with General Gibbs on its right, Gen- 
eral Pakenham on the left, the Highlanders in clear and im- 
posing view, the column again advanced into the fire. Oh ! the 
slaughter that then ensued ! There was one moment, when 
that thirty- two pounder, loaded to the muzzle with musket- 
balls, poured its charge directly, at point-blank range, right 
into the head of the column, literally levelling it with the 
plain ; laying low, as was afterwards computed, two hundred 
men. The American line, as one of the British officers re- 
marked, looked like a row of fiery furnaces. 

15. The heroic Pakenham had not far to go to meet his 
doom. He was three hundred yards from the lines when the 
real nature of his enterprise seemed to flash upon him, and he 
turned to Sir John Tilden and said : " Order up the reserve." 
Then, seeing the Highlanders advancing to the support of 
General Gibbs, he, still waving his hat, but waving it now with 
his left hand, cried out: " Hurrah ! brave Highlanders!" 

16. At that moment a mass of grape-shot, with a terrible 
crash, struck the group of which he was the central figure. 
One of the shots tore open the general's thigh, killed his horse, 
and brought horse and rider to the ground. Captain McDou- 
gal caught the general in his arms, removed him from the 
fallen horse, and was supporting him from the field, when a 
second shot struck the wounded man in the groin, depriving 
him instantly of consciousness. He was borne to the rear, and 
placed in the shade of an old live-oak, which still stands; and 
there, after gasping a few minutes, yielded up his life without a 
word, happily ignorant of the sad issue of all his plans and 
toils. 

17. A more painful fate was that of- General Gibbs. A few 



300 The United States Reader. nsis. 

moments after Pakenham fell, Gibbs received his death-wound, 
and was carried off the field, writhing in agony, and uttering 
fierce imprecations. He lingered all that day and the succeed- 
ing night, dying in torment on the morrow. Nearly at the 
same moment, General Keane was painfully wounded in the 
neck and thigh, and was also borne to the rear. Colonel Dale, 
of the Highlanders, fulfilled his prophecy, and fell at the head 
of his regiment. 

18. The Highlanders, under Major Creagh, wavered not, but 
advanced steadily, and too slowly, into the very tempest of 
General Carroll's fire, until they were within one hundred yards 
of the lines. There, for cause unknown, they halted and stood, 
a huge and glittering target, until five hundred and forty-four 
of their number had fallen, then broke and fled, in horror and 
amazement, to the rear. The column of General Gibbs did not 
advance after the fall of their leader. Leaving heaps of slain 
behind them, they, too, forsook the bloody field, rushed in utter 
confusion out of the fire, and took refuge at the bottom of wet 
ditches and behind trees and bushes on the borders of the 
swamp 

10. The whole was like a dream. How long a time, does the 
reader think, elapsed between the fire of the first American gun 
and the total rout of the attacking columns ? Twenty-five 
minutes ! JSTot that the American fire ceased, or even slackened 
at the expiration of that period. The riflemen on the left, and 
the troops on the right, continued to discharge their weapons 
into the smoke that hung over the plain for two hours. But in 
the space of twenty-five minutes, the discomfiture of the enemy 
in the open field was complete. The battery alone still made re- 
sistance. It required two hours of a tremendous cannonade to 
silence its great guns, and drive its defenders to the rear. — Life 
of Andrew Jackson. 

The Hartford Convention. — A large number of citizens of the 
United States, belonging to the Federal party, had been opposed to the war 
from its very commencement, and they continued to oppose its prosecution till 
the close. These persons were mostly residents of New England. They re- 
garded the war as unnecessary and impolitic ; the losses, too, which they were 



lsio.] The Nation. 301 

sustaining in their commerce and fisheries, were not without influence upon 
them. 

For the purpose of considering their grievances, and devising means of re- 
dress, a convention was held at Hartford, Connecticut, in December, 1814. 
The fiiends of President Madison and of the war looked upon this assemblage 
of delegates, commonly known as the " Hartford Convention/' as a treasonable 
body ; but their doings were, to say the least, harmless, their principal act being 
the adoption of a document which presented a statement of grievances, and re- 
commended several amendments to the Constitution. After three weeks of 
secret session, the convention adjourned. 

Objects of the Hartford Convention. — NoaJi Webster. 

1. Few transactions of the Federalists, during the early 
periods of our government, excited so much the angry passions 
of their opposers as the Hartford Convention — so called-— dur- 
ing the presidency of Mr. Madison. As I was present at the 
first meeting of the gentlemen who suggested such a conven- 
tion ; as I was a member of the House of Representatives in 
Massachusetts when the resolve was passed for appointing 
delegates, and advocated that resolve ; and, further, as I have 
copies of the documents, which no other person may have 
preserved, it seems to be incumbent on me to present to the 
public the real facts in regard to the origin of the measure, 
which have been vilely falsified and misrepresented. 

2. After the war of 1812 had continued two years, our public 
affairs were reduced to a deplorable condition. The troops of 
the United States, intended for defending the sea-coast, had 
been withdrawn to carry on the war in Canada; a British 
squadron was stationed in the Sound to prevent the escape of a 
frigate from the harbor of New London, and to intercept our 
coasting trade ; one town in Maine was in possession of the 
British forces ; the banks south of New England had all sus- 
pended the payment of specie ; our shipping lay in our harbors, 
embargoed, dismantled, and perishing; the treasury of the 
United States was exhausted to the last cent ; and a general 
gloom was spread over the country. 

3. In this condition of affairs, a number of gentlemen in 
Northampton, in Massachusetts, after consultation, determined 



302 The United States Reader, [isi5. 

to invite some of the principal inhabitants of the three counties 
on the river, formerly composing the old comity of Hampshire, 
to meet and consider whether any measure could he taken to 
arrest the continuance of the war, and provide for the public 
safety. 

4. Many town-meetings were held, and with great unanimity 
addresses and memorials were transmitted to the General 
Court, then in session; but, as commissioners had been sent to 
Europe for the purpose of negotiating a treaty of peace, it was 
judged advisable not to have any action upon them till the 
result of the negotiation should be known. But during the 
following summer no news of peace arrived ; and, the distresses 
of the country increasing, and the sea-coast remaining defense- 
less, Governor Strong summoned a special meeting of the 
Legislature in October, in which the petitions of the towns 
were taken into consideration, and a resolve was passed ap- 
pointing delegates to a convention to be held in Hartford. 
The subsequent history of that convention is known by their 
report. 

5. The measure of resorting to a convention for the purpose 
of arresting the evils of a bad administration, roused the 
jealousy of the advocates of the war, and called forth the 
bitterest invectives. The convention was represented as a 
treasonable combination, originating in Boston, for the purpose 
of dissolving the Union. But citizens of Boston had no con- 
cern in originating the proposal for a convention ; it was wholly 
the project of people in old Hampshire county, — as respectable 
and patriotic republicans as ever trod the soil of a free country. 

6. The citizens who first assembled in Northampton, con- 
vened under the authority of the Bill of Rights, which declares 
that the people have a right to meet in a peaceable manner and 
consult for the public safety. The citizens had the same right 
then to meet in convention as they have now; the distresses of 
the country demanded extraordinary measures for redress; the 
thought of dissolving the Union never entered into the head 
of any of the projectors, or of the members of the convention ; 
the gentlemen who composed it, for talents and patriotism, 



i8i5.] The Nation. 303 

have never been surpassed by any assembly in the United 
States ; and 6eyond a question the appointment of the Hartford 
Convention had a very favorable effect in hastening the con- 
clusion of a treaty of peace. 

7. All the reports which have been circulated respecting the 
evil designs of that convention, I know to be the foulest mis- 
representations. Indeed, respecting the views of the disciples 
of Washington and the supporters of his policy, many, and 
probably most, of the people of the United States in this gen- 
eration, are made to believe more falsehood than truth. I speak 
of facts within my own personal knowledge. We may well say, 
with the prophet, " Truth is fallen in the street, and equity 
cannot enter." 

8. Party spirit produces an unwholesome zeal to depreciate 
one class of men for the purpose of exalting another. It be- 
comes rampant in propagating slander, which engenders 
contempt for personal worth and superior exceilence ; it blunts 
the sensibility of men to injured reputation ; impairs a sense 
of honor ; banishes the charities of life; debases the moral sense 
of the community ; weakens the motives that prompt men to 
aim at high attainments and patriotic achievements ; degrades 
national character, and exposes it to the scorn of the civilized 
world. — Sketches of American Policy. 

Treaty of Peace between the United States and England. 

— In February, 1815, the joyful tidings reached the United States that a treaty 
of peace had been signed at Ghent on the 24th of December, 1814. The two 
great points of dispute — the encroachments upon American commerce, and the 
impressment of American seamen — were left untouched by the treaty. The 
omission, however, was not important, inasmuch as, by the termination of the 
European war, all encroachments upon American commerce ceased ; and, by the 
great success ot the American navy, the impressment question was effectually 
disposed of. 

War With Algiers. — In 1795, a treaty was made with Algiers, in which 
it was stipulated that an annual tribute should be paid to that power, to secure 
American vessels from seizure by the Algerines. The tribute was accordingly 
paid until 1812, when the Algerines, believing that the Americans, because of 
their war with the English, would not be able to protect their commerce, resumed 
their old practice of piracy against United States vessels. After peace with Eng- 
land was established, a naval force, commanded by Commodore Decatur, was 



304 The United States Reader. [1820. 

sent to the Mediterranean. Decatur captured the largest frigate in the Algerine 
navy, and another vessel with more than five hundred prisoners, and then appeared 
bef< ire Algiers. The terrified 1 )ey was compelled to liberate the American prisoners 
then in his hands, and relinquish all claim to tribute from the United States for 
the future. Decatur also made satisfactory treaties with Tunis and Tripoli. 

New States. — During Madison's administration two States were added to 
the Union: Louisiana, previously the Territory of Orleans, in 1812; and In- 
diana, formerly a part of the Northwest Territory, in 1816. • 

Monroe's Administration.— Condition of the Country.— 
James Monroe, of Virginia, Madison's successor in the presidency, was inaugu- 
rated on the 4th of March, 1817 ; and his administration commenced under 
very favorable circumstances. We were at peace with all foreign powers ; our 
commerce rode every sea ; and the strife at home, between the two great politi- 
cal parties, Democrats and Federalists, had entirely ceased. 

War with the Semi notes. — Toward the close of 1817, the Seminoles 
[sem'i-ndh) of Florida, joined by other Indians, commenced depredations on 
the frontier settlements of Georgia. At first Gen. Gaines, and, afterward, Gen. 
Jackson, was sent against them. Being convinced that the Indians had been 
instigated to hostilities by persons in Florida, Jackson marched into that prov- 
ince, though, at the time, it belonged to Spain ; seized the fort at St. Mark's ; 
executed two instigators of the war, both British subjects ; and sent the author- 
ities of Pensacola to Havana. Jackson's invasion of Florida, a territory belong- 
ing to a nation at peace with the United States, and his summary proceedings 
in the prosecution of the war, were condemned by many persons ; but they were 
approved by the President and Congress. 

Cession of 1 tori da to the United States.— This having led to 
difficulties between the governments of Spain and the United States, a treaty 
was finally made in 1819, by which Florida was ceded to the United States, but 
Spain did not surrender possession of the Territory until 1821. 

New States. — In 1817, the Mississippi Territory, embracing the present . 
States of Alabama and Mississippi, was divided, and the western portion ad- 
mitted into the Unioo as the State of Mississippi. Illinois, which, up to 1800, 
was a part of the Northwest Territory ; and then, till 1809, formed with Indiana 
the Indiana Territory ; and subsequently, by itself, was the Illinois Territory ; 
became a State in 1818. Alabama* was admitted in 1819. In 1820, Mainc,f 
which had up to that time been a district of Massachusetts, was organized as a 
State, and admitted into the Union. 

* The territory now known as Alabama was originally a part of Georgia. Iu 179S, all the region 
comprising the present States of Alabama and Mississippi was organized as the Territory of Missis- 
sippi. In 1817, its western portion became the State of Mississippi, while the other part continued to 
he the Territory of Alabama until its admission as a State. The word Mississippi is of Indian origin, sig- 
nifying, according to some writers, the Grt<tt nicer, according to others, the Great Father of Waters. 
The word Alabama is also of Indian origin, signifying //<?/>- toe rest. 

+ Authors are not agreed with regard to the derivation of the name of this State. The prevailing 
opinion is. that Maine was so called in compliment to Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I.' of England, 
who, it was supposed, owned the province of Maine, iu France. 



1820.] The Nation. 306 

H£issouri Compromise, — The most important event during Monroe's 
administration was the controversy preceding the admission of Missouri into 
the Union. The States of the North opposed its admission as a slave-State, 
While those of the South favored such admission. In Congress the debate was 
long and violent ; but at length, in 1820, a bill known as the " Missouri Compro- 
mise " was passed, by which it was declared that, with the exception of Missouri, 
slavery should be prohibited in the territory of the United States north of the 
parallel 36° 30', and west of the Mississippi. Under this compromise, Missouri, 
with a constitution permitting slavery, was admitted into the Union in 1821. 

Death of Commodore Decatur. — Cooper. 

1. But a few months after the death of Perry,* the navy ex- 
perienced another severe loss, the attending circumstances of 
which were so melancholy as to affect the entire nation with 
painful emotions. The event which thus awakened general 
regret and grief was the death of Commodore Stephen Deca- 
tur, occasioned by a wound received in a duel with Commodore 
James Barron. The latter had been suspended from the ser- 
vice for five years, in consequence of his conduct in connection 
with the attack of the Leopard on the Chesapeake in 1807. 

2. During his suspension he engaged in mercantile business, 
and remained away from his country throughout the war with 
Great Britain. On his return, and some time after the close of 
the war, he sought a command according to his rank in the 
navy. Commodore Decatur opposed his application, and ex- 
pressed his opinion very freely respecting Barron's absence 
during the war, and his subsequent conduct. Beports, as usual 
in such a case, incorrectly representing Decatur's language and 
feelings, were conveyed to Barron's ears, and led to a corre- 
spondence between them, which was opened by Barron in June, 
1819, and continued at intervals for several months, and up to 
the time of their hostile meeting. 

3. The course of this correspondence evinced increased exas- 
peration of feeling on both sides ; Decatur still reiterating his 
opinion that Barron had rendered himself unworthy of his 
station in the navy, and of the privilege of honorable service ; 
and Barron, while defending himself against Decatur's severe 

* See note on page 286. 



306 The United States Reader. [isao. 

charges, refusing to explain to his antagonist the real cause of 
his remaining abroad, while his country was engaged in a war 
to so great an extent maritime in its character. It afterward 
appeared that pecuniary embarrassment was the real reason of 
Barron's singular conduct. 

4. Had this been known, the generous Decatur would have 
been the last person to taunt a fellow-officer who had already 
endured so much as Barron had. The correspondence, how- 
ever, led to a challenge from Barron to Decatur; both yielding 
to the bloody and barbarous maxims of a most fallacious code 
of honor, which, they admitted, was repulsive to their moral 
sen! i incuts and better feelings. Commodore Elliot was selected 
by Barron as his second, and Commodore Bainbridge appeared 
on behalf of Decatur. 

5. The arrangements having been very quietly made, the par- 
ties met early on the morning of the 22d of March, 1820, be- 
tween Washington and Bladensburg, near the latter place. 
When they had taken their positions, and were ready to lire, 
Barron said to Decatur: "I hope, on meeting in another world, 
we will be better friends;" and Decatur replied, "I have never 
been your enemy, sir." Commodore Bainbridge gave the word 
to fire, and both pistols went off at the same instant. The 
two antagonists fell, Barron being severely wounded in the 
hip, and Decatur having received a mortal wound in the ab- 
domen. 

6. As they Jay upon the ground, Decatur exclaimed: "I am 
mortally wounded, at least, I believe so, and I wish I had fallen 
in defense of my country." Barron, also considering his 
wound mortal, remarked that he " forgave his enemy from the 
bottom of his heart." Decatur was then removed to his resi- 
dence in Washington, and lingered in great agony until half- 
past ten o'clock in the evening, when he expired. 

7. He was but forty-one years of age, and had spent twenty- 
two years of his life in the naval service, his warrant as a 
midshipman bearing the date of April 30th, 1798. Without 
detracting from the high merit of other officers, there were cer- 
tain very favorable circumstances in the history of Perry and 



1825.] The A T ation. 307 

Decatur, which rendered them peculiar favorites with the entire 
nation ; and their death, occurring in the very prime of their 
days, and with attending incidents of a very aggravating char- 
acter, was felt with universal and keen regret and sorrow. — 
Naval History of the United States. 

Monroe Doctrine. — An important event of Monroe's administration 
was the recognition of the independence of the South American republics. In 
his annual message of 1823, Monroe declared that the American continents " are 
henceforth not to be considered as subject to future colonization by any Euro- 
pean power." This is known as the " Monroe Doctrine." 

Visit of Lafayette.— In the summer of 1824, Lafayette arrived on a 
visit to this country, as a guest of the nation. His tour through the States 
was everywhere signalized by tokens of respect from a grateful people. 

Address to Lafayette. — Webster. 

[Extract from an oration delivered by Daniel Webster at the laying of the corner- 
stone of Bunker Hill monument, June IT, 18-25; on which occasion the ceremony was 
performed by Lafayette, and the orator, during the course of his address, thus apos- 
trophized the distinguished guest of the nation.] 

1. Sib, we are assembled to commemorate the establishment 
of great public principles of liberty, and to do honor to the 
distinguished dead. The occasion is too severe for eulogy of 
the living. But, sir, your interesting relation to this country, 
the peculiar circumstances which surround you and surround 
us, call on me to express the happiness which we derive from 
your presence and aid in this solemn commemoration. 

2. Fortunate, fortunate man ! With what measure of devo- 
tion will you not thank God for the circumstances of your 
extraordinary life! You are connected with both hemispheres 
and with two generations. Heaven saw fit to ordain that the 
electric spark of liberty should be conducted, through yon, 
from the jSTew World to the Old ; and we, who are now here to 
perform this duty of patriotism, have all of us long ago received 
it in charge from our fathers to cherish your name and your 
virtues. You will account it an instance of your good fortune, 
sir, that you crossed the seas to visit us at a time which enables 
you to be present at this solemnity. 

3. You now behold the field, the renown of which reached 
you in the heart of France, and caused a thrill in your ardent 



308 The United States Reader. [is25. 

bosom. You see the lines of the little redoubt thrown up by 
the incredible diligence of Prescott ; defended, to the last ex- 
tremity, by his lion-hearted valor; and within which the 
corner-stone of our monument has now taken its position. 
You see where Warren fell, and where Parker, Gardner, 
McCleary, Moore, and other early patriots fell with him. Those 
who survived that day, and whose lives have been prolonged to 
the present hour, are now around you. Some of them you 
have known in the trying scenes of the war. Behold ! they 
now stretch forth their feeble arms to embrace you. Behold ! 
they raise their trembling voices to invoke the blessing of God 
on you and yours forever. 

4. Sir, you have assisted us in laying the foundation of this 
structure. You have heard us rehearse, with our feeble com- 
mendation, the names of departed patriots. Monuments and 
eulogy belong to the dead. We give them this day to Warren 
and his associates. On other occasions they have been given 
to your more immediate companions in arms, to Washington, 
to Greene, to Gates, to Sullivan, and to Lincoln. We have 
become reluctant to grant these, our highest and last honors, 
further. We would gladly hold them yet back from the little 
remnant of that immortal band. Serus in ccelum reelects. 
[Late may you return to the skies.] Illustrious as are your 
merits, yet far, oh, very distant be the day when any inscrip- 
tion shall bear your name, or any tongue pronounce its eulogy! 

Lafayette at Mount Vernon.— Levasseur. 

[From an account by Lafayette'? secretary.] 

1. After a voyage of two hours, the guns of Fort Washington 
announced that we were approaching the last abode of the 
Father of his Country. At this solemn signal, to which the 
military band accompanying us responded by military strains, 
we went on deck, and the venerable soil of Mount Vernon was 
before us. At this view, an involuntary and spontaneous 
movement made us kneel. We landed in boats, and trod upon 
the ground so often trod by the feet of Washington. 



1825.] The A T ation. 309 

2. A carriage received General Lafayette, and the other 
visitors silently ascended the precipitons v path which conducted 
to the solitary habitation of Mount Vernon. In re-entering 
beneath this hospitable roof, which had sheltered him when the 
reign of terror tore him violently from his country and family, 
George Lafayette felt his heart sink within him, at no more 
finding him whose paternal care had softened his misfortunes ; 
while his father sought with emotion for everything which re- 
minded him of the companion of his glorious toils. 

3. Three nephews of General Washington took Lafayette, his 
son, and myself, to conduct ns to the tomb of their nncle ; our 
numerous companions remained in the house. In a few 
minutes the cannon, thundering anew, announced that Lafayette 
rendered homage to the ashes of Washington. Simple and 
modest as he was during life, the tomb of the citizen-hero is 
scarcely perceived among the sombre cypresses by which it is 
surrounded. 

4. A vault slightly elevated and clodded over, — a wooden 
door without inscriptions, — some withered and green garlands, 
indicate to the traveller who visits the spot, where rest in peace 
the puissant" arms which broke the chains of his country. As 
we approached, the door was opened. Lafayette descended 
alone into the vault, and in a few minutes after reappeared, 
with his eyes overflowing with tears. He took his son and me 
by the hand, and led us into the tomb, where, by a sign, he in- ■ 
dicated the coffin. We knelt reverentially, and rising, threw 
ourselves into the arms of Lafayette, mingling our tears with his. 

Death and Character of Lafayette.— Sumner. 

1. The time was now at hand when Lafayette's great career 
was to close. Being taken ill, at first with a cold, the Chamber 
of Deputies inquired of his son after his health ; and upon the 
next day, May 20, 1834, he died, at the age of seventy-seven. 
The ruling passion was strong to the last. As at the beginning, 
so at the end, he was all for freedom ; and the last lines traced 
by his hand, which he rose from his deathbed to write, attest 
his joy at that great act of emancipation by which England, 



310 - The United States Reader, 

at an expense of a hundred million dollars, had given freedom 
to eight hundred thousand slaves. 

2. " Nobly," he writes — and these were the last words of your 
benefactor — "nobly has the public treasure been employed." 
And these last words, speaking from the tomb, still sound in 
our ears. Such was Lafayette. At the tidings of his death, 
there was mourning in two hemispheres; and the saying of 
Pericles (per'i-hleez) was again fulfilled, for the whole earth was 
the sepulchre of the illustrious man. 

" Not to those chambers where the mighty rest, 
Since their foundation came a nobler guest; 
Not e'er was to the bowers of bliss conveyed . 
A purer spirit, or a fairer shade." 

3. Judge him 'by what he did throughout a long life, and 
you must con less his greatness. Judge him by the principles 
of hie life, and you must bend with reverence before him. In 
all history he stands alone. There is no one who has done so 
much for human freedom. In youth showing the firmness of 
age, and in age showing the ardor of youth; trampling upon 
the prejudices of birth, upon the seductions of power, upon the 
blandishments of wealth, setting aside the favor even of that 
people whom he loved so well; whether placed at the height of 
worldly ambition, or plunged in the vaults of a dungeon, al- 

t ways true to the same principle. 

4. Great he was, indeed; not as an author, although he has 
written what we are all glad to read; not as an orator, although 
he lias spoken often and well; not as a soldier, although always 
brave, and often working miracles of genius; not as a states- 
man, although versed in government, and intuitively* perceiving 
the relations of men and nations ; — not on these accounts is he 
great: but he is great as one of the world's benefactors, who 
possessed the largest measure of that greatest gift of God to 
man — the genius of beneficence. And great he is as an ex- 
ample, which, so long as history endures, shall teach all — the 
author, the orator, the soldier, the statesman, — all alike to 

1 labor, and, if need be, to suffer, for human right. The fame of 



1826.] The Nation. 311 

such a character, brightening with the advance of civilization, 
can find no limit except in earthly gratitude. — Ovation on La- 
fayette. 

John Quincy Adams's Administration.— Election and 
Inauguration. — Four candidates were put in nomination to succeed Presi- 
dent Monroe, and the consequence was that none of them had a majority of the 
electoral votes. The election then went to the House of Eepresentatives, for 
the second time, Jefferson having been thus elected, in 1801 ; and John Quincy 
Adams was chosen the sixth President of the United States. His inauguration 
tcok place at Washington, on the 4th of March, 1825. 

Death of Adams and Jefferson. — On the fiftieth anniversary of 
American Independence, July 4th, 1826, occurred the death of the two venerable 
ex-presidents, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. As this remarkable coin- 
cidence took place more than a year after the commencement of the tenth presi- 
dential term, John Adams lived to see his son president. When it is recollected 
that Adams and Jefferson were members of the committee that framed the De- 
claration of Independence ; that both signed that important document ; that 
both had been foreign ministers, vice-presidents, and presidents of the United 
States ; and that each had lived to a venerable age, the coincidence of their 
deaths is indeed remarkable. 

Death of John Adams. — Theodore Parker. 

1. Able-bodied, able-minded, Mr. Adams gradually faded 
away. His hearing decayed, his eyes failed him, his hands were 
tremulous ; but still the brave old soul held on, making the 
most of the wreck of life now drifting alone to the Islands 
of the Blessed. Independence Day, the great day of his life, 
drew near. It was its fiftieth anniversary. The Nation was to 
keep its solemn Jubilee, grateful to God and to his servants here 
below, for the blessings of the smiling and happy land. 

2. A few days before the time, the town orator asked him for 
a " sentiment " to suit the approaching occasion. The old man, 
in his ninety-first year, infirm, feeble, and mortally sick in his 
bed, answered, " Ixdepexdexce Forever!" The day came 
and found him living, but fast losing his hold upon earth. 
" Thomas Jefferson still survives/' said the old man — his co- 
adjutor and his rival, yet his friend. These were his last 
words. 

3. Soon after, while the land rang with cannons jubilant 

14 



312 The United States Reader. ti826. 

over his great deed, he passed onward, and ceased to be mortal. 
Jefferson had gone an hour or two before. Hoav fortunate the 
occasion of his death ! His son was then president of this 
mighty nation; and on its fiftieth birth-day, calmly, quietly, 
lie shook off the worn-out body, and, following his sentiment, 
went forth to " Independence Forever." — Historic Ameri- 
cans. 

Adams and Jefferson. — Wirt. 

1. The scenes which have been lately passing in our country 
are full of moral instruction. They hold up to the world a 
lesson of wisdom, by which all may profit. In the structure 
of their characters; in the course of their action; in the 
striking coincidences which marked their high career; in the 
lives and in the deaths of the illustrious men whose virtues 
and services we have met to commemorate ; and in that voice 
of admiration and gratitude which has since burst with one 
accord from the millions of freemen who people these United 
States, — there is a moral sublimity which overwhelms the mind, 
and hushes all its powers into silent amazement! 

2. The European, who should have heard the sound without 
apprehending tip' cause, would be apt to inquire, "What is the 
meaning of all this? What had these men done to elicit this 
unanimous and splendid acclamation? Why has the whole 
American nation risen up, as one man, to do them honor, and 
offer to them this enthusiastic homage of the heart? Were 
they mighty warriors ; and was the peal that we have heard, 
the shout of victory ? Were they great commanders, returning 
from their distant conquests, surrounded with the spoils of 
war ; and was this the sound of their triumphal procession ? 
Were they covered with martial glory in any form; and was 
this the noisy wave of the multitudes, rolling back at their ap- 
proach ? " ^Nothing of all this : no ; they were peaceful and aged 
patriots, who, having served their country together through 
their long and useful lives, had now sunk together to the tomb. 

3. They had not fought battles ; but they had formed and 
moved the great machinery of which battles were only a small 



is26.] The Nation. 313 

and comparatively trivial consequence. They had not com- 
manded armies; but they had commanded the master-springs 
of the nation, on which all its great political as well as mili- 
tary movements depended. By the wisdom and energy of their 
counsels, and by the potent mastery of their spirits, they had 
contributed pre-eminently to produce a mighty revolution, 
which has changed the aspect of the world. 

4. And this, be it remembered, has been the fruit of intel- 
lectual exertions, — the triumph of mind! What a proud testi- 
mony does it bear to the character of our nation, that it is able 
to make a proper estimate of services like these ; that, while in 
other countries the senseless mob fall down in stupid admira- 
tion before the bloody wheels of the conqueror — even of the con- 
queror by accident, — in this, our people rise with one accord 
to pay homage to intellect and virtue ! This is a spectacle of 
which we may be permitted to be proud. It honors our 
country no less than the illustrious dead. And could these 
great patriots speak to us from the tomb, they would tell us 
that they have more pleasure in the testimony which these honors 
bear to the character of their country, than in that which they 
bear to their individual services. 

5. Jefferson and Adams were great men by nature; not 
great and eccentric minds, "shot madly from their spheres" to 
affright the world and scatter pestilence in their course ; but 
minds whose strong and steady lights, restrained within their 
proper orbits by the happy poise of their characters, came 
to cheer and gladden a world that had been buried for ages in 
political night. They were heaven-called avengers of degraded 
'man. They came to lift him to the station for which God 
kad formed him, and to put to flight those idiot superstitions, 
with which tyrants had contrived to mthrall his reason and 
his liberty. 

6. That Being, who had sent them upon this mission, had 
fitted them pre-eminently for his glorious work. He filled their 
hearts with a love of country, which burned strong within 
them even in death. He gave them a power of understanding 
which no sophistry v could baffle, no art elude ; and a moral 



314 The United States Reader, [is 32. 

heroism which no dangers could appal. Careless of themselves, 
reckless of all personal consequences, trampling underfoot that 
petty ambition of office and honor which constitutes the master 
passion of little minds, they bent all their mighty powers to 
the task for which they had been delegated — the freedom of 
their beloved country, and the restoration of fallen man. 

7. They felt that they were apostles of human liberty; and 
well did they fulfill their high commission. They rested not 
until they had accomplished their w T ork at home, and given 
such an impulse to the great ocean of mind, that they saw the 
waves rolling on the furthest shore before they were called to 
their reward; and then left the world, hand in hand, exulting, 
as they rose, in the success of their labors. — Oration on Adams 
and Jefferson. 

The American System. — The subject of domestic manufactures en- 
gaged a large share of the president's attention, in 1828, a tariff-law was 
passed, based upon the principle of protecting home manufactures, by imposing 
heavy duties upon imported articles of the same kind. This policy, known 
as the American System, had its friends and opponents then as it has now. 

Election of Andrew Jackson. — Toward the close of the presiden- 
tial term, the contest for the succession was carried on with great bitterness of 
party feeling. Adams was a candidate for a second term, but was defeated by 
Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee. John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, then vice- 
president, having been elected four years before, was again chosen to that office. 

Jackson's Administration. — Veto of the United States 
Ha nL . — Jackson's inauguration took place on the 4th of March, 1829. In 
his first annual message to Congress, the new president took ground against 
the renewal of the charter of the United States Bank. Notwithstanding the 
objection, Congress, in 1832, passed a bill to re-charter it, but Jackson vetoed 
the bill, and the bank consequently ceased to be a national institution when the 
charter expired. 

HI ark Hawk War. — In 1832, the northwest frontier suffered from 
Indian hostilities. Black Hawk, the most noted of the savages, and from Avhom* 
the contest that followed took its name, was taken prisoner. After a detention 
of some months, during which he was conducted through Washington and 
other cities, for the purpose of convincing him that resistance to the power 
of the whites was useless, he was allowed to rejoin his people. The Indians 
finally gave up a large tract of territory and removed further west. 

Nullification.— The tariff-law of 1828 caused dissatisfaction among the 
people of the cotton-growing States; and although, in 1832, an act was passed 
removing some of the duties on foreign goods, the feelwig was greatly increased. A 



1832.] The Nation, 3i5 

convention in South Carolina declared the tariff-acts unconstitutional, and 
therefore null ; and proclaimed, that, if any attempts were made to collect the 
duties, the State would secede from the Union. Jackson acted with prompt- 
ness and firmness. He sent General Scott to Charleston, and issued a procla- 
mation against the " nullifiers," an extract from which is given below. A " com- 
promise bill," providing for the gradual reduction of the duties, was offered by 
Henry Clay, and passed by Congress. It was accepted by Calhoun, Hayne, 
and the other South Carolina leaders, and thus quiet was restored. 

Proclamation to South Carolina. — Jackson. 

1. Fellott-citizexs of my native State ! let me not only 
admonish you, as the first magistrate of our common country, 
not to iucur the penalty of its laws, but let me use the influ- 
ence that a father would over his children, whom he saw rush- 
ing to certain ruin. In that paternal language, with that 
paternal feeling, let me tell you, my countrymen, that you are 
deluded by men who either are deceived themselves, or wish to 
deceive you. Mark under what pretenses you have been led on 
to the brink of insurrection and treason on which you stand ! 
Look back at the acts which have brought you to this state! — 
look forward to the consequences to which they must inevitably 
lead I 

2. And something more is necessary. Contemplate the con- 
dition of that country of which you still form an important 
part ! Consider its government, uniting in one band of com- 
mon interest and general protection so many different States ; 
giving to all their inhabitants the proud title of American 
citizens ; protecting their commerce, securing their literature 
and their arts, facilitating their intercommunication, defending 
their frontiers, and making their name respected in the remot- 
est parts of the earth ! 

3. Consider the extent of its territory; its increasing and 
happy population ; its advance in the arts which render life agree- 
able, and the sciences which elevate the mind! See education 
spreading the light of religion, humanity, and general informa- 
tion into every cottage in this wide extent of our territories and 
States! Behold it as the asylum where the' wretched and the 
oppressed find a refuge and support ! 



3 16 The United States Reader. [1832. 

4. Look on this picture of happiness and honor, and say, 
"We, too, are citizens of America! Carolina is one of these 
proud States. Her arms have defended, her best blood has 
cemented this happy Union!" And then add, .if you can, 
without horror and remorse, "This happy Union we will dis- 
solve; this picture of peace and prosperity we will deface; 
this free intercourse we will interrupt; these fertile fields we 
will deluge with blood; the protection of that glorious flag 
we renounce ; and the very name of Americans we discard!" 

5. And for what, mistaken men ! For what do you throw 
away these inestimable blessings ? For what would you exchange 
your share in the advantages and honor of the Union? For 
the dream of a separate independence ; — a dream interrupted by 
bloody conflicts with your neighbors, and a vile dependence on 
foreign power? If your leaders could succeed in establishing 
a separation, what would be your situation ? Are you united 
at home ? Aic you free from the apprehensions of civil discord, 
with all its fearful consequences? Do our neighboring repub- 
lic-, every day suffering some new revolution, or contending 
with some new insurrection, — do they excite your envy? 

6. But the dictates of a high duty oblige me solemnly to an- 
nniinee that you cannot succeed. The laws of the United 
States must be executed. I have no discretionary power on 
the subject: my duty is emphatically pronounced in the Con- 
stitution. Those who told you that you might peaceably pre- 
vent their execution, deceived you; they could not have been 
deceived themselves. They know that a forcible opposition 
could alone prevent the execution of the laws; and they know 
that such opposition must be repelled. Their object is dis- 
union ; but be not deceived by names : disunion by armed force 
is treason ! 

7. Are you really ready to incur its guilt ? If you are, on the 
heads of the instigators of this act be the dreadful consequences, 
— on their heads be the dishonor; but on yours may foil the 
punishment; and on 3 7 our unhappy State will inevitably fall 
all the evils of the conflict you force upon the government of 
your country. 



1835.] The Nation. 317 

8. But there is yet time to show that the descendants of the 
Pinckneys, the Sumters, the Rutledges, and of the thousand other 
names which adorn the pages of your Revolutionary history will 
not abandon that Union, to support which, so many of them 
fought, and bled, and died. I therefore adjure you, as you honor 
their memory ; as you love the cause of freedom, to which they 
dedicated their lives; as you prize the peace of your country, 
the lives of its best citizens, and your own fair fame, — to retrace 
your steps.' 

9. Snatch from the archives 7 of your State the disorganizing 
edict of its convention : bid its members to reassemble and 
promulgate the decided expressions of your will to remain in 
the path which alone can conduct you to safety, prosperity, 
and honor: tell them, that compared to disunion, all other evils 
are light; because that brings with it an accumulation of all: 
declare that you will never take the field, unless the star- 
spangled banner of your country shall float over you ; that you 
will not be stigmatized when dead, and dishonored and scorned 
while you live, as the authors of the first attack on the Consti- 
tution of your country! — its destroyers you cannot be. 

10. Fellow-citizens, the momentous case is before you. On 
your undivided support of the government depends the decision 
of the great question it involves, whether our sacred Union shall 
be preserved, and the blessings it secures to us as one people shall 
be perpetuated. No one can doubt that the unanimity with 
which that decision will be expressed, will be such as to inspire 
new confidence in republican institutions ; and that the pru- 
dence, the wisdom, and the courage, which it will bring to 
their defense, will transmit them unimpaired and invigorated' 
to our children. 

War ivith the Seminoles. — Captivity of Osceola. — Toward 
the close of 1835, the Seminoles hecame hostile, in consequence of an attempt 
to remove them to lands west of the Mississippi, in accordance with a treaty 
which had been made with some of the chiefs, but which others did not con- 
sider binding. Osceola (os-e-o'lah), their most noted chief, having, in his op- 
position, used threatening language, Gen. Thompson, the government agent, put 
him in irons ; but, by feigning penitence and making promises, he soon obtained 
his liberty. 



3i8 



The United States Reader. [1837. 



Atrocities of the Indians.— On. the 28th of December, Osceola, re- 
solved upon vengeance, approached a house in which Thompson and others 
were dining, and, making a sudden attack, killed five of the party, including 
Thompson. On the same day, Major Dade, while marching with more than a 
hundred men to join Gen. Clinch, at Fort Drane, was attacked, and, with his 
whole force except four men, was massacred. 

Defeat of the Indians. — A number of battles were fought during the 
following year; but in none could the Americans claim a decided victory. In 
October, 1837, Osceola appeared in the American camp with a flag of truce, when 
Gen. Jessup seized the chief, and sent him to Fort Moultrie. Two months later, 
Col. Taylor, afterward President of the United States, defeated the Indians 
near Lake O-kee-cho'bee, in the most desperate battle of the war; and though 
they continued hostile till 1842, they never again rallied in large force. 

Osceola. — Lucy Hooper. 

Not on the battle-field, 
As when thy thousand warriors joy'd to meet thee, 
Sounding the fierce war-cry, 
' Leading them forth to die, — 
Not thus, not thus we greet thee. 

But in a hostile camp, 
Lonely amidst thy foes, 

Thine arrows spent, 

Thy brow unbent, — 
Yet wearing record of thy people's woes. 

Chief! for thy memories now, 
While the tall palm against this quiet sky 

Her branches w r aves, 

And the soft river laves 
The green and flower-crowned banks it wanders by; 

While in this golden sun 
The burnished rifle gleameth with strange light, 

And sword and spear 

Rest harmless here, 
Yet flash with startliug radiance on the sight; 

Wake they thy glance of scorn, 
Thou of the folded arms and aspect stern, — 

Thou of the deep low tone, 

For whose rich music gone, 
Kindred and friends alike may vainly yearn ? 



1837.] The Nation, 319 

"Woe for the trusting hour ! 
Oh, kingly stag ! no hand hath brought thee down ; 

'Twas with a patriot's heart, 

Where fear usurped no part, 
Thou earnest, a noble offering, and alone ! 

For vain yon army's might, 
While for thy band the wide plain own'd a tree, 

Or the wild vine's tangled shoots 

On the gnarl'd oak's mossy roots 
Their trysting-place might be ! 

Woe for thy hapless fate ! 
Woe for thine evil times and lot, brave chief! 

Thy sadly-closing story, 

Thy short and mournful glory, 
Thy high but hopeless struggle, brave and brief ! 

Woe for the bitter stain 
That from our country's banner may not part ! 

Woe for the captive, woe ! 

For burning pains and slow 
Are his who dieth of the fever'd heart. 

Oh ! in that spirit-land, 
Where never yet the oppressor's foot hath past, 

Chief, by those sparkling streams, , 

Whose beauty mocks our dreams, 
May that high heart have won its rest at last ! 

Van JBuren's Administration, — Inauguration. — Martin Van 
Buren, of New York, who succeeded Jackson in the presidency, was inaugu- 
rated on the 4th of March, 1837. He served only one term. 

Monetary Revolution. — Soon after his inauguration, a revolution in 
monetary affairs took place, which produced great distress in all branches of 
business throughout the country. Merchants failed, commerce and manufac- 
tures were prostrated, and the crash was finally consummated by the suspension 
of specie payments on the part of the banks. 

Rebellion in Canada. — In the latter part of 1837 a rebellion broke 
out in Canada, which enlisted the sympathies and engaged the active co-opera- 
tion of many citizens of the United States. A proclamation issued by the 
president, forbidding interference in the affairs of Canada, together with the 
decided measures of the British authorities, had the effect intended, and the 
attempt at insurrection was suppressed. 
14* 



320 The United States Reader. [i84i. 

Harrison's and Tyler's Administration. — Van Buren's suc- 
cessor in office was William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, the "hero of Tippecanoe 
and the Thames." The cabinet of the new president was judiciously chosen, 
and the people anticipated for him a successful administration; but, on the 4th 
of April, 1841, just one month after his inauguration, he died ; and the vice- 
president, John Tyler, on taking the oath of office two days after, became 
president. 

Annexation of Texas. — A proposition for the admission of Texas 
into the Union caused an excited discussion throughout the country during the 
closing months of Tyler's administration. Those who objected to an increase 
of the slave-power in the government, opposed the proposition ; while those who 
favored such increase, advocated it. Three days before the expiration of his 
term of office, the president signed a bill for the annexation of Texas to the 
United States. 

Texas. — Robert Mackenzie. 

1. The decaying energies of Spain were sorely wasted by the 
wars which Napoleon forced upon her. Invaded, conquered, 
occupied, fought for during years by great armies, Spain issued 
from the struggle in a slate of utter exhaustion. It was impos- 
sible that a country so enfeebled could maintain a great colonial 
dominion. Not long after the Battle of Waterloo, all her Ameri- 
can dependencies chose to be independent, and Spain could do 
nothing to prevent it. Among the rest, Mexico won for her- 
self the privilege of self-government, of which she has thus 
far proved herself so incapable. 

2. Lying between the Mississippi and the Eio Grande, was a 
vast wilderness of undefined extent and uncertain ownership, 
which the United States, with some hesitation, recognized as 
belonging to Mexico. It was called Texas.* The climate was 
genial; the soil was of wondrous fertility. The United States 
coveted this fair region, and offered to buy it from Mexico. 
Her offer was declined. 

3. The great natural wealth of Texas, combined with the 
almost total absence of government, was a powerful attraction 
to the lawless adventurers who abounded in the southwestern 

* "La Harpe, in a letter dated Nasonite (eastern Texas), July 8, 1719. calls the country the pro- 
vince of Lax Tekfts; and this is the first mention of the name in any published works. It may have 
been the appellation of some petty tribe of Indians living in eastern Texas." 



i84i.] The Nation. 321 

States. A tide of vagrant blackguardism streamed into Texas. 
Safe from the grasp of justice, the murderer, the thief, the 
fraudulent debtor, opened in Texas a new and more hopeful 
career. Founded by these conscript fathers, Texan society 
grew apace. In a few years, Texas felt herself strong enough 
to be independent. Her connection with Mexico was declared 
to be at an end (1836). 

4. The leader in this revolution was Samuel Houston (heius'- 
fon), a Virginian of massive frame — energetic, audacious, un- 
scrupulous, — in no mean degree fitted to direct the storm he 
had helped to raise. For Houston was a Southerner, and it was 
his ambition to gain Texas for the purpose of the slave-owners. 
Mexico had abolished slavery. Texas could be no home for 
the possessor of slaves till she was severed from Mexico. 

5. When independence was declared, Texas had to defend her 
newly-claimed liberties by the sword. General Houston headed 
the patriot forces, not quite four hundred in number, and imper- 
fectly armed. Santa Anna came against them with an army of 
five thousand. The Texans retreated, and, having nothing to 
carry, easily distanced their pursuers. At the San Jacinto (jah- 
sin'to), Houston was strengthened by the arrival of two field- 
pieces. He turned like a lion upou the unexpectant Mexicans, 
whom he caught in the very act of crossing the river. He 
fired grapeshot into their quaking ranks. His unconquerable 
Texans clubbed their muskets — they had no bayonets— and 
rushed upon the foe. The Mexicans fled in helpless rout, and 
Texas was free. The grateful Texans- elected General Houston 
president of the republic which he had thus saved. 

.6. Xo sooner was Texas independent than she offered to join 
herself to the United States. - Her proposals were at first de- 
clined ; but the South warmly espoused her cause, and urged 
her claims. Once more North and South met in fiery debate. 
Slavery had already a sure footing in Texas. If Texas entered 
the Union, it was as a slave-State. On that ground the South 
avowedlv urged the annexation; on that ground the Korth 
resisted it. 

7. " We all see," said Daniel Webster, "that Texas ivill be a 



322 The United States Reader. [1845. 

slave-holding country ; and I frankly avow my unwillingness 
to do anything which shall extend the slavery of the African 
race on this continent, or add another slave-holding State to 
the Union.*' "The South," said the legislature of Mississippi, 
speaking of slavery, "does not possess a blessing with which 
the affections of her people are so closely entwined, and whose 
value is more highly appreciated. By the annexation of Texas, 
an equipoise of influence in the halls of Congress will be secured, 
which will furnish us a permanent guarantee of protection." 

8. It was the battle-ground on which all the recent great 
battles of American political history have been fought. It 
ended, as such battles at that time usually did, in Southern 
victory. In March, 1845, Texas was received into the Union. 
The slave-power gained new votes in Congress, and room for a 
vast extension of the slave-system. — History of the United 
Slates. 

Polk's A (1 mini fit rat ion. — War with Mexico.— -Tyler's suc- 
cessor in office was James K. Polk, who was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 
IS4."). His administration continued during only one term, hut it was an event- 
ful one. On the 4th of July, 1845, the Legislature of Texas approved the 
"Annexation Bill" passed by the United States Congress, and, by this act of 
approval, Texas became one of the United States. 

Capture of Thornton's Party. — For the protection of the new 
State, General Taylor proceeded, by order of President Polk, to the Rio Grande 
(ri'o grahn'da) opposite Mat-a-mo'ras, where he erected a fort, which was 
afterward named Fort Brown. Learning that the Mexicans were assembling 
troops at a point higher up the river, Taylor sent Captain Thornton, with sixty- 
three dragoons, to reconnoitre. This little force was attacked (April 26th, 
1846), and, after a loss of sixteen men, was compelled to surrender. 

Battles of Palo A /to a n d Resaca <le la Pal ma.— The Mexicans, 
in large force, having crossed the Rio Grande, for the purpose, as was supposed, 
of moving against Point Isabel, where the Americans had established a depot 
of supplies, Taylor marched to the relief of that place. After putting the 
Point in a good state of defense, he set out on his return to the river. His 
progress was disputed at Palo Alto [pah'lo ahl'ln) and Resaca de . la Pal ma 
(ru sah'kah da lah-pahTmah)* by General Arista (ah-rees tah) ; but in both battles 
the Mexieans were defeated with severe loss. In the first (May 8th), the Mexi- 

t Balo Alto, a Spanish term, signifying " tall timber." Resaca de la Palma is also a Spanish 
term, and signifies "a ravine of palm-trees. 



is 46.] The Nation. . 323 

cans numbered six thousand men, while the Americans consisted of but twenty- 
three hundred. The loss of the former exceeded five hundred. That of the 
latter was scarcely fifty, but among their mortally wounded was the brave Major 
Ringgold. 

The battle of Kesaca de la Palma took place on the following day (May 9th). 
The action was commenced on both sides by the artillery ; but the Mexican guns, 
well-aimed and rapidly discharged, were holding the Americans in check, when 
Captain May was ordered to silence them. At the head of his dragoons he 
charged with great fury, killed or dispersed the gunners, and captured General 
La Vega (lah vd'gah). 

Battle of Resaca de la Palma. — B. S. Bipley. 

1. Gexeeal Aeista had been re-enforced during the morning 
by nearly two thousand infantry and a strong body of cavalry. 
His infantry occupied the northern crest of Eesaca de la Palma, 
which ravine is crossed by the mainroad from Point Isabel to 
Matamoras, at a j)oint some four miles from the latter place. 
The general outline of the ravine is an irregular curve, of which 
the convexity .is given to the south. The road running toward 
the south crosses the ravine about the centre of its length. 
Three guns on the northern crest defended the point of passage, 
and two on each side of the road south of the ravine supported 
the first battery with a flank and cross fire. 

2. Along the southern crest was posted a second line of infant- 
ry ; and the cavalry, which were necessarily unable to act, was 
in strong masses to the rear. The position and disposition 
of the Mexican forces were exceedingly strong against an enemy 
advancing by the road; and the thick growth of chaparral v ren- 
dered such an advance the one most probable, if not absolutely 
necessary. But the same cause rendered a complete view of the 
operations impracticable, and made any action at the point one 
of detail on both sides, with the advantage, however, of a 
knowledge of locality on the part of the Mexicans, not possessed 
by their enemy. 

3. McCalFs and Smith's skirmishers pressed forward on the 
left and right, driving the Mexican troops of the first line from 
their positions at the northern extremities of the ravine. 
Kidgely's guns were planted at a point on the right of the path, 



324 • The United States Reader. [isig. 

Within three hundred yards of the Mexican artillery, and thence 
opened a lively lire; it was briskly returned from the Mexican 
advanced battery; but the chaparral prevented accurate aim, 
and the consequent full effect of artillery on either side. 

4. The fifth regiment and the left wing of the fourth, de- 
ployed'' as skirmishers, were sent into action on the left; while 
the third, with the right wing, displayed on the right, and sup- 
ported the advanced parties; these troops pressed on through. 
the thicket, and the action became general. The nature of the 
ground prevented the use of any other artillery than Ridgely's 
battery; there was no position in which a line could be arrayed, 
nor was it attempted. 

5. The enemy's shot fell thick and fast from his positions on 
the crest of the ravine, and each captain and subaltern'' led his 
command as an independent body. All was apparently in con- 
fusion ; but, confident in the courage and discipline of those 
around them, there was a general harmony in the attack: none 
thought of retreat ; and, with loud shouts, each small party of 
the American troops pressed vigorously forward, and the fire of 
small-arms was incessant. 

6. While the action continued in this manner, the Mexican 
artillery continued its fire upon the advancing American troops, 
although thai of the advanced battery had slackened under the 
quick discharges of Ridgely's guns. To finish the action as 
soon as possible, by its capture. General Taylor sent Captain 
May's squadron of dragoons directly against it. May started 
down the road at a gallop, in obedience to his order, and pulling 
up for a moment, as he passed Ridgely's position, the latter 
poured in a discharge of canister'', which drew the Mexican fire 
in reply. 

7. May continued his course, and, though his command was 
in confusion, rode over the whole battery. The Mexican in- 
fantry, however, from the second line, drove him, and the six 
nun whom he was able to rally from his wiiole squadron, back 
under a severe lire; but he carried with him General de la 
Vega, who had been entangled in the melee v and taken prisoner. 
Ridgely had, meanwhile, followed at a gallop, and unlimbered v 



1846.] The Nation. 325 

on the northern crest, ready to defend the position without in- 
fantry support; but, although much exposed, the fear of injur- 
ing the dragoons prevented his firing. 

8. When the action had fairly commenced, Gen. Taylor had 
sent orders to Lieutenant-colonel Belknap to advance one 
regiment from the guard of the train, and at this time he led 
the eighth infantry into action. Moving down the road in 
column at a charging pace, the eighth, joined by a portion of 
the fifth, which had beat through to the ravine on the left of 
the road, crossed the ravine, secured the guns, and, pushing 
into the chaparral, after a severe struggle drove the enemy from 
the vicinity. 

9. The battle was won ; but still, in small parties, the Mexi- 
cans disputed the American advance, until their last gun, which 
had been in position to their left, was captured, and their camp 
entered by the fourth infantry, and then the rout began. Kerr's 
squadron of dragoons, Duncan's and Eidgely's batteries, the 
artillery battalion, and the light companies under Captain C.F. 
Smith, were sent on the track of the fugitives. 

10. Following closely in pursuit, they dispersed the routed 
Mexican army, driving its broken masses into the chaparral 
and beyond the Eio Grande. As the advance of the pursuing 
forces came in sight of the Mexican batteries at Matamoras, 
these opened fire. The American guns of Fort Brown also com- 
menced firing on the upper ferry, at which the fugitives were 
crossing; but night coming on, rendered it impossible to dis- 
tinguish friend and foe, and the cannonade ceased on both sides. 
The pursuing forces occupied the former American camp on the 
banks of the Eio Grande, but for the night the main army re- 
mained on the field" of battle. — War with Mexico. 

Taking of Matamoras and Monterey. —During the most of 
Taylor's absence from the fo.t on the Eio Grande, a period of nearly eight days, 
it had been subjected to a bombardment from the enemy's batteries at Matamo- 
ras. The garrison made a successful defense, though their heroic commander, 
Major Brown, was mortally wounded by the bursting of a shell. On the 18th 
of May, Taylor took possession of Matamoras, and in August he marched to 
attack Monterey (mon-ta-ra ') , a city strong in its natural defenses, and then gar- 



326 The United States Reader. [1846. 

risoneil by ten thousand troops under Gen. Ampudia (am-poo'de-ah). After a 
series of assaults, in which Generals Worth and Quitman rendered brilliant 
service, Monterey capitulated (Sept. 24thj, and Taylor agreed to an armistice. 

The Martyr of Monterey.— Rev. J. G. Lyons. 

[••While I was stationed with our left wing in one of the forts, I saw a Mexican 
woman busily engaged in carrying bread and water to the wounded men of both armies. 
I saw the ministering angel raise the head of a wounded man, give him water and food, 
and then bind up his ghastly wound with a handkerchief she took from her own head. 
After baring exhausted her supplies, she went back to her house, to get more bread and 
water fur others. As she was returning on her mission of mercy, to comfort other 
wounded persons, I heard the report of a gun, and saw the po^r innocent creature fall 
(had. I think it was an accidental shot that struck her. I would not be willing to 
believe otherwise. It made me sick at heart; and, turning from the scene, I involun- 
tarily raised my eyes toward heaven, and thought, Great God! is this war? Passing the 
spot the next day. I saw her body still lying there, with the bread by her side, and the 
broken gourd, with a few drops of water in it,— emblems of her errand. We buried her; 
and while we were digging her grave, cannon-balls flew around us like hail."— Letter to 
the " Louisville Courier," elated Monterey, October 17, 1S47.] 

The strife was stern at Monterey, 

When those high towers were lost and won; 

And, pealing through that mortal Cray, 
Fl&sh'd the strong battery's vengeful gun ; 

Yet. heedless of its deadly rain, 

She stood, in toil and danger first, 
To bind the bleeding soldier's vein, 

And slake the dying soldier's thirst. 

She found a pale and stricken foe, 

Sinking in nature's last eclipse, 
And on the red earth kneeling low, 

She wet his parch'd and fever'd lips; 
When, thick as winter's driving sleet, 

The booming shot and flaming shell 
Swept with wild rage that gory street, 

And she — the good and gentle — fell. 

They laid her in her narrow bed — 

The foemen of her land and race ; 
And sighs were breath'd and tears were shed 

Above her lowly resting-place. 
Ay ! glory's crimson worshippers 

Wept over her unkindly fall, 
For deeds of mercy such as hers 

Subdue the heart and eyes of all. 



1846.] The Nation. 327 

To sound her worth were guilt and shame 

In us, who love but gold and ease ; 
They heed alike our praise or blame, 

Who live and die in works like these. 
Far greater than the wise or brave, 

Far happier than the fair or gay, 
Was she who found a martyr's grave 

On that red field of Monterey. 

General Kearney's Expedition. — In an expedition which set out 
from Leavenworth (June, 1846), General Kearney (har'ne) entered Santa Fe and 
gained possession of the whole of New Mexico without opposition. After or- 
ganizing a government, he left the main body of his army under Colonel Don'i- 
phan, and crossed the continent to California. 

March of Colonel Doniphan. — Mansfield. 

1. Ik the interval between the conquest of New Mexico by 
Kearney and the march of Scott from Vera Cruz, there oc- 
curred, in the northern provinces of Mexico, one of those grand 
military adventures which convert the realities of history into 
the brilliant and enticing scenes of romance. This was the 
march of Colonel Doniphan's corps through the wild and un- 
known regions of northern Mexico. 

2. When the American army under Kearney had reached 
Santa Fe, it was already nine hundred miles from the point of 
its departure. The greater part of this distance had been passed 
over vast prairie-plains, over arid deserts, in the valleys of 
streams, where no town or habitation was seen, and over hills 
like the Eaton, from whose lofty summit no signs of civiliza- 
tion could be seen, and the distant horizon was limited only by 
the towering peaks of the Rocky Mountains. 

3. At Santa Fe, there was but little real interruption to this 
wilderness prospect. New Mexico contained 50,000 square 
miles, but only 100,000 inhabitants. The states of Chihuahua 
(che-wah'ivah), Durango, and Coahuila (co-ali-wee'lah), below, 
scarcely contained a greater population in proportion. Here 
and there a Mexican town appeared, and at intervals spots of 
beautiful culture, of vineyards and fruits ; but, for the most 



328 The United States Reader. [1847. 

part, there were uninhabited regions, unknown to the Ameri- 
cans, and almost untrodden by travellers. 

4. In the early part of December, Colonel Doniphan left Santa 
Fe with eight hundred men, in three divisions, destined for Chi- 
huahua. The object of the expedition was to join General Wool 
in the heart of northern Mexico. Wool, as has been detailed, 
marched with what was called the Army of the Centre, from 
San Antonio de Bexar for Chihuahua. The latter point he 
never reached; but Colonel Doniphan now supposed him either 
at Chihuahua or on his route. 

5. Doniphan, accordingly, marched south to form a junction. 
On the 21st of December, his corps reached Bracito (brali-se'to), 
and the troops were dispersed getting wood, when a large force 
of the enemy, supposed to be a thousand strong, appeared in 
sight The Americans immediately formed in line. The Mexi- 
cans were composed of lancers and infantry. A Mexican officer 
rode out on a tine charger, displaying a black flag. Their col- 
umns immediately charged, and were received by the Ameri- 
cans wit li a well-directed lire of rifles. This determined the 
engagement. The Mexicans fled. Doniphan then pursued 
his march at his leisure. 

6. On the 2?th of December, Doniphan's corps entered El 
Paso del Norte without opposition. This is a considerable town 
on the Rio del Norte, or rather the Bio Grande, the former being 
the name of that river iu New Mexico. Tins town contains about 
live thousand inhabitants; but there are about eleven thousand 
settled along the river for twenty-five miles. It is on the road 
to Chihuahua, and at one of the crossings of the Bio Grande. 

7. Here Colonel Doniphan was compelled to wait for re-en- 
forcements, and also to hear from General Wool. The Ameri- 
cans were surrounded with a hostile population, and continually 
expecting an attack. One who was present writes, "Here we 
have spent a month in anxiety, drudgery, and toil." Nothing, 
however, was heard from Wool; and it was long before re-en- 
forcements arrived. At length, on the 1st of February, Captain 
Weigh tman arrived with artillery, and Doniphan's command 
was increased to the amount of about nine hundred men. 



1847.] The Nation. 329 

8. In the latter part of February, he set out from El Paso, 
and 011 the 23d the American forces were at Carmen, one hun- 
dred miles from Chihuahua. In the mean time, General Here- 
din, who commanded the Mexican forces at Chihuahua, hav- 
ing heard of the approach of the American army, dispatched 
General Conde with eight hundred cavalry to watch the Ameri- 
cans. On the 21st, General Heredia himself took position, with 
additional troops, near the Sacramento Eiver, and waited the 
approach of Colonel Doniphan 

9. On the 28th of February, the American army discovered 
the enemy entrenched near the Eancho Sacramento, on the 
river Sacramento. The position was a very strong one. It 
was in a valley about four miles in width, having a range of 
mountains on each side. The Eio Sacramento and Arroyo 
Seco both crossed the valley here ; and the main road to Chi- 
huahua, pursuing the valley, crosses the Sacramento at the 
Eancho Sacramento. 

10. The Mexican intrenchments were on a ridge between 
these streams, and completely commanded the road. Their 
right rested on the Cerro Fryoles (fre-yo'les), with high precip- 
itous sides, on which was a battery commanding the surround- 
ing country and the pass leading to Chihuahua, through the 
Arroyo Seco. On their left was the Cerro Sacramento, a pile 
of immense volcanic rocks, surmounted by a battery which 
commanded the main road to Chihuahua. 

11. A passage was found practicable across the Arroyo Seco, 
within reach of the enemy's fire; and the American column, 
having reached the ground between the Seco and the Sacra- 
mento, commenced deploying toward the table-land occupied 
by the Mexicans. The column of General Conde's cavalry, 
opposed to the American right, now commenced a charge, which 
was returned by the fire of the artillery-battery, consisting of 
six pieces, under the command of Major Clark. At the third 
fire, the enemy's cavalry gave way and dispersed. They fell 
back to the Mexican camp, and rallied behind a redoubt. This 
the Americans attacked with artillery, Captain Weight-man 
rapidly advancing with two howitzers 7 , supported by Captain 



330 The United States Reader. [is-j7. 

Reed's company of horse, and then by Lieutenant-Colonel Mit- 
chell, delivering his fire with great effect, the enemy were 
driven from the redoubt. 

12. The Mexicans were pursued toward the mountains by 
Lieutenant-Colonel Mitchell, Lieutenant-Colonel Jackson, and 
Major Gilpin, accompanied by Weightman, with his section of 
howitzers. In the mean time, the Mexicans had carried their 
cannon to the Cerro Sacramento, to cover their retreat. The 
fire of the American artillery soon silenced these, and the 
liancho Sacramento was then attacked. At length the Mex- 
icans were driven from this last position, and the victory was 
complete. The Mexicans lost one hundred men and ten pieces 
of artillery. 

13. Colonel Doniphan and his little army entered the city 
of Chihuahua, the fruit of this victory, in divisions, on the 1st 
and 2d of March. This town is the capital of one of the most 
important States of Mexico, and contains more than forty 
thousand inhabitants. It lies on a branch of the Conchas 
River, two hundred and fifty miles south of El Paso. On the 
easl lies the Rio Grande, and on the west the lofty summits of 
the Sierra Madre. The country is diversified with mountains 
and vales. 

14. The army passed rugged cliffs of basaltic 7 rock on one 
side and, on theother, fields rich with the finest wheat In the 
clear atmosphere of this elevated region, the mountain-tops 
would seem, in the distance, blue as the skies above ; or, near 
by, would darkly frown in the cold, gray aspect of its granite 
rock. Chihuahua, too, is the centre of rich and various mines. 
\ot more than twelve miles from it are silver mines, supposed 
to be the richest in Mexico. These mines are generally owned 
by private companies, composed of English or Spanish pro- 
prietors. 

15. At Chihuahua, in this rich country and pleasant climate, 
the army of Doniphan rested in the bright days of spring. 
Tluy had departed so far from the American lines of intelli- 
gence, as to be ignorant of the situation or place of the American 
forces. The expedition had been planned with the idea that 



1847.] The Nation. 331 

the corps of Doniphan would find the army of Wool at Chi- 
huahua; but that army was not there. Wool had encountered, 
beyond Monclova, the lofty ridges of the Sierra Madre, and been 
compelled to change his course to the south, and eventually to 
Saltillo (sahl-teel'yo). 

16. After waiting in vain for any appearance of Wool, and 
having remained six weeks at Chihuahua, the army at last took 
its line of march. Colonel Doniphan moved -his corps from 
Chihuahua in three divisions, on the 25th, 26th, and 28th of 
April. Marching southwardly through Cerro Gordo, Mapimi, 
(maJirpe'me), and Parras, they reached Saltillo, three hun- 
dred and fifty miles further, on the 22d of May, 1847. Re- 
maining but three days, on the 25th of May they marched 
to Monterey. Pursuing their journey with rapid step, they 
descended the Rio Grande, navigated the Gulf of Mexico, and 
arrived at New Orleans on the 15th of June. 

17. Here the volunteers were mustered out of the service of 
the United States, embarked on steamboats, and were soon 
returned to their homes in Missouri. In a little more than 
a year, this corps of volunteers, mustered from private life, had, 
by land and by w r ater, — over mountain-tops and sandy plains,— 
in snow, and in rain, and in hot deserts, — amidst the homes of 
civilization and the wilds of savages, — amidst the fires of battle, 
the sports of the camp, and the adventures of the wild wilder- 
ness, pursued their unchecked career for five thousand miles ! 
— History of the Mexican War. 

Conquest of California. — Before the breaking out of the war, Cap- 
tain Fremont' was sent to make western explorations. After suffering great 
hardships, he made his waj^ into California,* then a department of Mexico. 
Learning that Gen. Cas'tro, the governor of the province, was mustering a force 
to come against him, he took a position on a mountain-peak, thirty miles east 
of Monterey, where, in March, 1846, he built a fort and hoisted the American 
flag. But the governor made threats instead of attacks. Taking a northern 
route, Fremont passed through the valley of the Sacramento, but was over- 
taken by an oi'der from Washington, directing him to protect the interests of 

* "A romance was published in Spain, in. 1510, in which the word California, applied to an imaginary- 
island, for the first time occurred. Cortez had read the book, it is supposed, when he sailed along 
the west coast of Mexico, in 1535, and supposing he was in the region of the island, called the country 
California." The word, it is supposed, was derived from the word Calif. 



332 The United States Reader. [i837. 

the United States in California. Retracing his steps, he found Castro already 
marching against the American settlements ou the Sacramento. The settlers 
flocked to his standard with such alacrity, that he soon found himself able to 
confront the Mexicans, whom he defeated in several skirmishes, and finally 
compelled to retreat toward the southern part of the province. On the 5th of 
July, 1846, California was declared to be independent. 

A few days later, Commodore Sloat, commanding the Pacific fleet, having 
received information that hostilities had commenced on the Rio Grande, took 
possession of Monterey. Toward the latter part of the month, Commodore 
Stockton superseded Sloat in command ; and, with Fremont's co-operation, in 
a few months gained possession of the whole of California. Kearny arrived and 
took part in the final battle (Jan. 8th, 1847). 

Jifttfle of Hit en a 1 r istA, — General Taylor had been deprived of a large 
portion of his best troops, in order to supply General Scott with the requisite 
forces to proceed on the expedition which had been decided on at Washington, 
against the Mexican capital. In this condition, his force of less than five thou- 
sand men was attacked at Buena Vista (bioa'nah vees'tah), by an army nearly 
four times as large, under Santa Anna ; but, after a contest which lasted from 
morning till night, the Mexicans were driven in disorder from the field (Feb. 
23d, 1847). 

The Angels of Buena Vista.— Whittier. 

[A letter-writer from Mexico states, that, at the terrible fight of Buena Vista, 
Mexican women were seen hovering near the field of death, for the purpose of 
giving aid and succor to the wounded. One poor woman was surrounded by the maim- 
ed and coffering of both armies, ministering to the wants of Americans as well as 
Mexicans, with impartial tenderness. The following are the concluding stanzas of 
Wintrier' s beautiful poem, bearing the above title.] 

" Look forth once more, Ximena ! " " Like a cloud before the wind 
Bolls the battle down the mountains, leaving blood and death behind; 
Ah ! they plead in vain for mercy ; iu the dust the wounded strive ; 
Hide your faces, holy angels ! Oh, thou Christ of God, forgive ! 

" Bint, Night, among thy mountains ; let thy cool, gray shadows fall ; 

Dying brothers, fighting demons — drop thy curtain over all ! 

Through the quickening winter twilight, wide apart the battle rolled ; 

In his sheath the sabre rested, and the cannon's lips grew cold. 
" But the holy Mexic women still their holy task pursued, 

Through that long, dark night of sorrow, worn, and faint, and lacking 
food ; 

Over weak and suffering brothers with a tender care they hung, 

And the dying foeman blessed them in a strange and Northern tongue. 

" Not wholly lost, O Father, is this evil world of ours ; 
Upward through its blood and ashes spring afresh the Eden flowers; 



184 7.] The A T ation. 333 

From its smoking bell of battle, Love and Pity send tbeir prayer, 
And still thy white-winged angels hover dimly in our air ! " 

General Scott's Expedition —Taking of Vera Cruz.— On the 
Sth of March (1847), Scott landed his army of twelve thousand men near Vera 
Cruz, and, on the 22d, aided by the fleet, he opened so destructive a fire upon 
the city and fortress of San Juan de Ulloa (nan whahn da ool-yo'ah), that, on the 
27th, both places were compelled to surrender. 

Battle of Cerro Gordo.— The march toward the interior was com- 
menced on the 7th of April, but, at the mountain pass of Cerro Gordo (sdr-ro 
yor'do), Scott found Santa Anna prepared to resist his advance. " On the morn- 
ing of the 18th, a daring assault was made upon the works of the enemy; and 
before noon the whole were in possession of the Americans. Besides losing their 
artillery, the Mexicans had one thousand of their number killed or wounded. 

Occupation of Puebla.— On the next day, the Americans entered Jala- 
pa (hah-fak 'pah) ; further on they took without opposition the strong castle of 
Pcrote (pa-ro'ta) ; and, on the 15th of May, they occupied the ancient and 
populous city of Puebla (poo-d'blah). Here they halted nearly three months for 
re-enforcements, and then resumed their march, reaching Ayotla (ah-yot'lah), a 
town fifteen miles from the city of Mexico. 

Occupation of Mexico. — Finding that the direct route thence was 
strongly fortified, and anxious to spare the lives of his men, Scott turned south- 
ward, and encamped about ten miles from the capital. "The approaches to the 
city of Mexico were guarded by batteries at Con treras (con-trarahs) and San 
Antonio, and by the strong forts of Churubusco (choo-roo-boos ko) and Chapul- 
tepec (chah-pool-ta?pek'). All these places were taken in succession, after severe 
conflicts, the American soldiers showing the greatest perseverance and daring. 
The last of them was taken by assault on the*13th of September; and Santa 
Anna and his army fled from the capital during the night succeeding. The 
next morning, General Scott, at the head of the American troops, made a tri- 
umphal entry into the city. The Americans were subsequently attacked from 
the housetops by the Mexican populace, but in a few days every disturbance was 
quieted. 

American Conquest of Mexico. — Mansfield. 

1. Oxr the morning of the 18th of September all was quiet. 

Mexico, the capital of the ancient Aztecs, the seat of the 
Spanish-American empire in America— had passed from Aztec 
and from Spaniard to the Anglo-American — the Northman of 
the Goths, the Saxon of German y, the Englishman of America 
— the same bold, hardy, energetic, ingenious, invincible, ambi- 
tious, and adventurous being, whose genius the forms of civil- 



334 The United Slates Reader, [isit. 

ization cannot confine, and to whose dominion continents are 
inadequate, 

2. In what hour of time, or limit of space, shall this man of 
the moderns — this conqueror over land and seas, nations and 
governments — find rest, in the completion of his mighty prog- 
ress? Commencing his march in the cold regions of Scandi- 
navia, no ice chilled his blood — no wilderness delayed his steps 
— no labor wearied his industry — no armies arrested his march 
— no empire subdued his power. Over armies and over empires 
— over lands and over seas — in heat, and cold, and wilderness, 
and Hood — amidst the desolations of death and the decays of 
disease — this Northman has moved on in might and majesty, 
steady as the footsteps of Time, and fixed as the decrees of 
Fate! 

3. How singular — how romantically strange is this — his wild 
adventure and marvellous conquest in the valley of valleys! 
How came the Northman and the Moorish Celt here to meet, 
and here to battle, in this North-American valley ? Look at it ! 
Inquire! Ask yourself how they came here! Are they the 
citizens, by nat are, of this continent ? Are they the aborigines 
of these wild and wonderful forests ? Never! How came they, 
then, to be contending for the lands and groves of those whose 
children they are not ? * 

4. In the beginning of the sixteenth century, Hernando 
Gortez landed on the coast of Mexico, and, at the head of 
Spanish troops, marched on to the conquest of Mexico, over 
whose effeminate" inhabitants the Spaniard has, for three hun- 
dred years, held undivided dominion. Not many years after, 
the Anglo-Saxon landed on the coasts of the northern Atlantic. 
He, too, marched on to conquest. The native citizens of the 
forest disappeared before him. Forests, mountains, and In- 
dians, were ineffectual to oppose him. From the banks of the 
St. Lawrence to the Sabine of Texas, he is a conqueror over 
nature. 

5. In the south the natives' die, or become slaves to the 
Spaniard. In the north, they fade and perish before the Anglo- 
American. The one spreads his empire from the Gulf of Mex- 



1848.] The Nation, 335 

ico to the far shore of California ; the other, from the hills of 
St. Francis to the mountains of Oregon. Both extend over 
breadths of land and power of resources unknown to the 
widest empire of antiquity. Egypt and her millions, with the 
famed Valley of the Nile, fade before the broad magnificence, 
the mighty growth of these American empires ! Even the ter- 
rible and far-seeing eagles of Eome grow dizzy and dim in their 
sight, as they look down from the summits of history upon 
these continental nations — these colossal v giants of the modern 
world ! 

' 6. And now, this Spaniard and this Northman meet, in bat- 
tle panoply*, in this valley of volcanoes, by the ancient graves 
of unknown nations, on the lava-covered soil where nature 
once poured forth her awe-inspiring flames, and the brave Tlas- 
calan once sung of glory and of greatness ! Three centuries 
since, these warrior-nations had left their homes beyond the 
wide Atlantic. Two thousand miles from each other, they had 
planted the seats of their empire; and now, as if time, in the 
moral world, had completed another of its grand revolutions, 
they have met in mortal conflict. 

7. Like the Eagle and the Vulture, who had long pursued 
different circles in the heavens, and long made prey of the weak 
• tenants of the air, their circles have been enlarged till they 
cross each other. They shriek ! They fight ! The victorious 
eagle bears the vulture to the earth, and screams forth through 
the clouds his triumphant song ! Has the bold bird received 
no wound ? Has no blood tinged the leathers of his wing ? Is 
there no secret flow of life from the portals of his heart ? Will 
he continue to look, with unblenched eye, on the blazing glories 
of the sun? Hid in the eternal decrees of God is the life of 
nations; and not till He has drawn away the curtains of time, 
will mortals know the secrets of His will in the government of 
nations. — 'History of the Mexican War. 

Treaty of Peace with 3Iexieo.— On the 2d of February, 1848, a 
treaty of peace was signed, by which all the territory north of the Rio Grande, 
together with the whole of New Mexico and California, was relinquished to the 
United States. On the part of the United States, it was agreed that $15,000,000 

15 



336 The United States Reader, [1850, 

should be paid for the territory acquired, and that debts due from Mexico to 
American citizens, amounting to $3,000,000, should be assumed. Peace was 
proclaimed by President Polk, on the 4th of July, 1848. 

Taylor 9 8 and Fillmore's Administrations, — Inaugura- 
tion of Taylor. — Polk's successor in the presidency was Gen. Zachary 
Taylor, tbe hero who had achieved such brilliant victories in the war with Mex- 
ico. His inauguration took place on the 5th of March, 1849, the 4th being 
Sunday. 

Discovery of Gold in California.— Dining the early part of 
184S, gold began to be found in California in large quantities. The news at 
once spread with wonderful rapidity, and thousands of emigrants from all parts 
of the world rushed thither. So rapidly did the territory become populated, that 
in the fall of 1849 there was a sufficient number of settlers there to constitute 
a State ; and an application for admission into the Union was consequently 
made. 

Admission of California.— Death of Taylor. — The applica- 
tion met with violent opposition from the southern States, because the Consti- 
tution of the proposed State excluded slavery ; but a compromise having been 
effected through the efforts of Henry Clay, California was admitted as a free 
State (Sept. 9, 1850). Meantime, Gen. Taylor died (July 9, 1850), and was 
succeeded by the vice-president, Millard Fillmore. 

Compromise Measures of lSoO.-^Tnz compromise measures 
adopted by Congress, simultaneously with the admission of California as a free 
State, consisted of four acts, which provided for the organization of territorial 
governments lor New Mexico and Utah {yoo'tah), without mention of slavery; 
the establishment of the boundary of Texas; the abolition of the slave-trade in 
the District of Columbia ; and the surrender to their masters of slaves escaping 
to free States — this last bill being known as the " Fugitive Slave Law." 

Eulogy on Zachary Taylor. — R. a Winthrop. 

[From a speech delivered in the IIon.ee of Representative!!, July 10, 1850, the day 
succeeding that on which the subject of this beautiful and impressive eulogy expired. 
General Taylor's last words were consistent with his character— "I am not afraid to die; 
1 have done my duty."] 

1. Mr. Speaker. — A most momentous and mysterious Provi- 
dence has been manifested in our midst. At a moment when 
the destinies of our country seemed to be inseparably associated 
with the character and conduct of its chief executive magis- 
trate, that magistrate has been summoned from his post, by 
the only messenger whose mandates lie might not have defied, 
and has been withdrawn forever from the sphere of human ex- 
istence. And, as we now behold him, borne away by the hand 



1850.] The Nation. 337 

of God from our sight, we can hardly repress the exclamation 
which was addressed to the departing prophet of old : " My 
father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen 
thereof!" 

2. I hazard nothing, sir, in saying, that the roll of our chief 
magistrates, since 1789, illustrious as it is, presents the name 
of no man w T ho has enjoyed a higher reputation with his con- 
temporaries, or who will enjoy a higher reputation with pos- 
terity, for some of the best and noblest qualities which adorn 
our nature, than Zachary Taylor. 

3. His indomitable courage, his unimpeachable honesty, his 
Spartan simplicity and sagacity, his frankness, kindness, mod- 
eration, and magnanimity, his fidelity to his friends, his gen- 
erosity and humanity to his enemies, the purity of his private 
life, the patriotism of his public principles, will never cease to 
be cherished in the grateful remembrance of all just men and 
all true-hearted Americans. Asa soldier and a general, his 
fame is associated with some of the proudest and most thrilling 
scenes of our military history. He may be literally said to 
have conquered every enemy he has met, save only that last 
enemy, to which we must all, in turn, surrender. 

4. As a civilian and statesman, during the brief period in 
wiiich he has been permitted to enjoy the transcendent honors 
which a grateful country had awarded him, he has given proof 
of a devotion to duty, of an attachment to the Constitution 
and the Union, of a patriotic determination to maintain the 
peace of our country, which no trials or temptations could 
shake. He has borne his faculties meekly, but firmly. He has 
been " clear in his great office." He has known no local par- 
tialities or prejudices, but has proved himself capable of 
embracing his whole country in the comprehensive affections 
and regards of a large and generous heart. 

5. But he has fallen almost at the threshold of his civil career, 
and at a moment when we were looking to him to render essential 
services to the country. Certainly, sir, he has died too soon for 
everybody but himself. We can hardly find it in our hearts to 
repine^ that the good old man has gone to his rest. We would 



338 The United States Reader, [isso. 

not disturb the repose in which the brave old soldier sleeps. 
His part in life had been long and faithfully performed. In 
his own last words, " he had always done his duty, and he was 
not afraid to die." But our regrets for ourselves and for our 
country are deep, strong, and unfeigned. "He should have 
died hereafter." 

6. Sir, it was a fit and beautiful circumstance in the close 
of such a career, that his last official appearance was at the 
celebration of the birthday of our national independence, and, 
more especially, that his last public act was an act of homage 
to the memory of Mm, whose example be had revered and fol- 
lowed, and who, as he himself so well said, "was, by so many 
titles, tbe Father of his country." 

7. And now, Mr. Speaker, let us hope that this event may 
teach us all how vain is our reliance upon any arm of flesh. 
Let us hope that it may impress us with a solemn sense of our 
national, as well as individual dependence on a higher than 
human power. Let us remember, sir, that "the Lord is King, 
be the people never so impatient ; that He sitteth between the 
Cherubim, be the eartli never so unquiet." 

8. Let us, in language which is now hallowed to us all, as 
having been the closing and crowning sentiment of the brief 
but admirable inaugural address with which this illustrious 
patriot opened his presidential term, and which it is my priv- 
ilege to read at this moment from the very copy from which 
it was originally read by himself to the American people, on 
the 5th day of March, 18-49, — let us, in language in which "he, 
being dead, yet speaketh " — 

9. " Let us invoke a continuance of the same protecting care 
which has led us from small beginnings to the eminence we 
this day occupy ; and let us seek to deserve that continuance 
by prudence and moderation in our councils; by well-drrected 
attempts to assuage the bitterness which too often marks un- 
avoidable differences of opinion ; by the promulgation and 
practice of just and liberal principles; and by an enlarged 
patriotism, which shall acknowledge no limits but those of our 
own wide-spread Republic." 



1850.] The Nation. 



Death of John C. Calhoun. — In the same year, 1850, the death of 
John C. Calhoun occurred. This distinguished man was born in South Caro- 
lina, in 17S2. He was for six years a representative in Congress ; for a number 
of years was a United States Senator ; was Secretary of War in Monroe's 
Cabinet ; and was twice elected Vice-President of the United States. In 1845, 
while Secretary of State in Tyler's Cabinet, he was " the author of the annexa- 
tion of Texas." 

Eulogy on John O. Calhoun. — Webster. 

1. Mr. President, I hope the Senate will indulge me in 
adding a very few words to what has already been said. My 
apology for this is the very long acquaintance which has sub- 
sisted between Mr. Calhoun and myself. We were of the same 
age. I made my first entrance into the House of Representa- 
tives in May, 1813. I there found Mr. Calhoun. He had 
already been a member of that body for two or three years. I 
found him then an active and efficient member of the assem- 
bly to which he belonged, taking a decided part, and exercising 
a decided influence, in all its deliberations. 
1 2. He was a man of undoubted genius and commanding 
talent All the country and all the world admit that. His mind 
was both perceptive and vigorous. It was clear, quick, and 
strong. Sir, the eloquence of Mr. Calhoun, or the manner 
of his exhibition of his sentiments in public bodies, was part 
of his intellectual character. It grew out of the qualities of 
his mind. It was plain, strong, terse, condensed, concise ; some- 
times impassioned, — still always severe. Rejecting ornament, 
not often seeking far for illustration, his power consisted in 
the plainness of his propositions, in the closeness of his logic, 
and in the earnestness and energy of his manner. 

3. These are the qualities, as I think, which have enabled 
him, through such a long course of years, to speak often, and 
yet always command attention. His demeanor as a senator is 
well known to us all ; is appreciated, venerated, by us all. Xo 
man was more respectful to others ; no man carried himself 
with greater decorum ; no man with superior dignity. I think 
there is not one of us but felt, when he last addressed us from 
his seat in the Senate — his form still erect, with a voice by no 



34-0 The United States Reader. [isso. 

means indicating such a 'degree of physical weakness as did 
in fact possess him; with clear tones, and an impressive, and I 
may say an imposing, manner, — who did not feel that he 
might imagine that we saw before us a senator of Rome, 
when Rome survived. 

4. Sir, I have not, in public nor in private life, known a more 
assiduous person in the discharge of his appropriate duties. I 
have known no man who wasted less of life in what is called 
recreation, or employed less of it in any pursuits not connect- 
ed with the immediate discharge of his duty. He seemed to 
have no recreation but the pleasure of conversation with his 
friends. 

5. There was a charm in his conversation not often found, 
lie delighted, especially, in conversation and intercourse with 
young men. I suppose that there has been no man among us, 
who had more winning manners, in such an intercourse and 
such conversation, with men comparatively young, than Mi*. 
Calhoun. I believe one great power of his character in gen- 
eral, was his conversational talent. I believe it is that, as 
well as a consciousness of his high integrity, and the greatest 
reverence for his talents and ability, that has made him so 
endeared an object to the people of the State to which hebelonged. 

6. Mr. President, he had the basis, the indispensable basis, of 
all high character; and that was unspotted integrity, unim- 
peached honor. If he had aspirations, they were high, and 
honorable, and noble. There was nothing groveling, or low, 
or meanly selfish, that came near the head or the heart of Mr. 
Calhoun. However, sir, he may have differed from others of 
us in his political opinions or his political principles, those 
principles and those opinions will now descend to posterity 
under the sanction of a great name. 

7. lie has lived long enough ; he has done enough; and he 
has done it so well, so successfully, so honorably, as to connect 
himself for all time with the records of his country. He is 
now a historical character. Those of us who have known him 
here will find that he has left upon our minds and upon our 
hearts a strong and lasting impression, of his person, his char- 



is 52.] The Nation. 341 

actor, and his public performances, which, while we live, will 
never be obliterated. 

8. We shall, hereafter, I am sure, indulge in it as a grateful 
recollection, that we have lived in his age; that we have been 
his cotemporaries ; that we have seen him, and heard him, and 
known him. We shall delight to speak of him to those who 
are rising up to fill our places. And, when the time shall 
come that we ourselves shall go, one after another, in succes- 
sion, to our graves, we shall carry with us a deep sense of his 
genius and character; his honor and integrity; his amiable 
deportment in private life; and the purity of his exalted 
patriotism. — Speech in the U. S. Senate. 

DeafJi of Henry Clay. — This illustrious statesman and orator died at 
Washington, on the 29th of June, 1852, in the 76th year of his age. For fer- 
vid and impassioned eloquence he has had few equals in the history of the 
country. The compromise measures of 1850, as already stated, were earnestly 
advocated by him as the means of saving the country from the peril of disunion 
and civil war. Unhappily, his efforts to prevent the latter subsequently proved 
. unavailing. 

Oratory of Henry Clay.— S. N. Siveet. 

1. It is generally believed that Greece and Eome produced 

the greatest orators the world has ever seen; but it seems to 

me that some of the moderns are equal, if not superior, to 

the most renowned orators of ancient times. All who have 

had the pleasure of listening to Henry Clay, have had a good 

opportunity to 

" Hear and learn the secret power 
Of harmony, in tone and numbers." 

2. In the spring of 1836, the writer heard Mr. Clay address 
the Senate of the United States four hours on the Land Bill; 
and it appears to me that he was distinguished for those rhetor- 
ical qualities by means of which Demosthenes, Cicero, and 
Pericles immortalized their names. It is a truth, equally pro- 
claimed by the voice of antiquity and of modern times, that 
the orator must stand or fall by his delivery. Mr. Clay's most 
excellent elocution was the principal part of his eloquence. In 



342 The United States Reader. [1852. 

concluding the great speech adverted to, he said : " I shall soon 
lie cold and lifeless in the grave/' in such a pathetic manner, 
that most of his hearers, including the leading members of the 
Senate, were in tears. His intonations of voice, and his ges- 
tures, were such 

"As skill and graceful nature might suggest, 
To a proficient of the tragic scene." 

3. Heaven, indeed, seems particularly to have fitted Mr. 
Clay's physical, mental, and moral faculties for a statesman and 
orator. He did not acquire a collegiate education, nor was he 
the less eloquent on that account. Mr. Fowler, a distinguished 
writer in the city of New York, well observes : " Eloquence can 
never be dug up among Latin rubbish or Grecian mythologyV 

4. It is equally true that it can never be written. It must be 
fell and spoken. It has also been truthfully said, that " thoughts 
are in the brain, like flowers in their native soil ; but on paper 
they are like exotics v in the greenhouse, probably maintaining 
a dwarf existence, but oftener killed by transplanting." By 
dispensing with notes, and following the suggestions of im- 
agination and emotion, the immortal Clay was enabled to 

" Snatch a grace beyond the reach of art." 

5. Although he was capable of speaking, and that, too, most 
eloquently, on the impulse of the moment, he did not often 
appear before an audience, unaided by the advantages of pre- 
meditation and study. It does not follow that a train of thought 
which is prepared, must be written. President Wayland, of 
Brown University, expresses the opinion, in his discourse on 
the " Apostolic Ministry," that " the value of written discourses 
has been, in this country, greatly overrated. Speaking an un- 
written train of thought, is, by far, the noblest and most effective 
exercise of mind, provided the labor of preparation, in a written 
and unwritten train of thought, be the same." 

6. It is hoped that the days of eloquence are not passed, but 
are yet to come. It cannot, however, reasonably be anticipated, 
that any age or country will ever produce a more graceful, im- 
pressive, and captivating speaker than Henry Clay. 



is52.] The Nation. 343 

" He, on whose name each distant eye shall gaze, 
The mighty sea-mark of those troubled days ; 
He, grand of soul, of genius unconfined, 
Born to delight, instruct, and mend mankind ; 
Clay ! in whose breast a Roman ardor glowed, 
"Whose copious tongue with Grecian richness flowed." 

Death of Daniel Webster. — Webster, the third of the great Amer- 
ican "triumvirate v (Calhoun, Clay, Webster), expired but a few months after the 
death of his distinguished compeer, Clay (Oct. 24, 1852). President Fillmore, 
in his message to Congress in the following December, thus alluded to this 
event : " "Within a few weeks the public mind has been deeply affected by the 
death of Daniel Webster, filling, at his decease, the office of Secretary of State. 
His commanding talent, his great political and professional eminence, his well- 
tried patriotism, and his long and faithful services in the most important public 
trusts, have caused his death to be lamented throughout the country, and have 
earned for him a lasting place in our history." 

Eulogy on Daniel Webster. — Clark. 

1. Daxiel Webster was great in all the elements of his char- 
acter: — great in original mental strength ; great in varied and 
vast acquirements; great in quick and keen perception ; great 
in subtle, logical discrimination; great in force of thought; 
great in power of intense and rigid analysis; great in rare and 
beautiful combination of talent ; great in ability to make an 
effort to command his powers ; great in range and acuteness of 
vision, for he could see like a prophet. Hence his decision of 
character; his bold, manly, independent thought; his whole 
sovereignty of mind. 

2. No man, probably, ever lived, who could calculate, with, 
such mathematical certainty, the separate effect of human 
actions, or the intricate, combined, and complicated influence 
of every movement, social, political, or personal. He could 
define and determine the very destiny of influence. This is the 
key to the problem of his greatness, an explanation to the 
miracle of his power. We are proud of his greatness, because 
it is American — wholly American ! The very impulses of his 
heart were American. 

3. The spirit of American institutions had infused itself into 
his life — had become a part of his being. He -was proud of his 

15* 



344 The United States Reader. iss4. 

country; proud of her commerce; proud of her manufactures; 
proud of her agriculture; proud of her institutions of art and 
science; and proud of her wealth, her resources, and her labor; 
and all in turn were proud of him. His patriotism was not 
bounded by the narrow limits of sectional interest nor hemmed 
in by state lines, nor regulated and biased by local policies. It 
was as broad as his country. He knew a Korth and a South, 
an East and a West; but he knew them only as one, — "One 
and inseparable! " 

4. As a forensic v orator, I know of no age, past or present, 
which can boast his superior. He united the boldness and en- 
ergy of the Grecian, and the grandeur and strength of the 
Roman, to an original simplicity which neither Grecian nor 
Roman possessed. He did not deal in idle declamation and lofty 
expression ; his ideas were not embalmed in rhetorical embel- 
lishments, nor buried up in the superfluous tinselry of meta- 
phor and trope, lie clothed them for the occasion; and, if 
the crisis demanded, they stood forth naked in all their native 
majesty, and with a power which would not bend to the passion, 
but only stooped to conquer the reason. 

5. Sublime, indeed, it was to see that giant mind, when roused 
in all its grandeur, sweep over the fields of reason and imagi- 
nation, bearing down all opposition, as with the steady and 
resistless power of the ocean-billows; to see the eye, the brow, 
the gesture, the whole man, speaking with an utterance too sub- 
lime for language, — a logic too lofty for speech. 

Pierce's A <lm in i strati on. — Kansas- Nebraska Hill. — Dur- 
ing the ail ministration of Franklin Pierce, who succeeded to the presidency on 
the 4th of March, 1853, the controversy between the slaveholding and non- 
slavtliolding sections of the Union was renewed, the one being in favor of and 
the other opposed to the extension of slavery into the territories of the United 
States. This fresh outbreak had its origin mainly in the introduction, in Con- 
gress, of what is known as the "Kansas-Nebraska Bill." By the "Missouri 
Compromise Bill," passed in 1820, slavery was prohibited in all the territory 
bought of France (in 1803), north of the southern boundary of Missouri — Mis- 
souri excepted. By the " Kansas-Nebraska Bill," which Congress passed in 
1854, this prohibition was repealed, and the two territories of Kansas* and Ne- 
braska were duly organized. 

* The name Kansas, said to signify smoky water, was that of a tribe of Indians. 



is6i.] The Nation. 345 

Civil War in Kansas. — No sooner had this hill passed than emigrants 
from both sections of the Union began to pour into Kansas, those from the 
North being determined to make it a free State, while those from the South 
were equally resolved the other way ; and with such undue zeal was the strife 
carried on, that frequent collisions took place, in which blood was sometimes 
shed. While these things were in progress, Pierce was succeeded in office by 
James Buchanan of Pennsylvania. 

Buchanan's Administration. — Inauguration. — Neiv 
States.— The inauguration of Buchanan took place on the 4th of March, 
1857. During his administration of four years, three States — all free-^-were 
added to the Union: Minnesota was admitted in 1858; Oregon, in 1859; and 
Kansas, in 1861. 

Slavery Question. — Hrotvn's Maid. — The slavery question con- 
tinued to be the prominent topic of discussion ; and an event, which occurred 
in the fall of 1859, and which created intense excitement throughout the coun- 
try, not only gave increased impulse to the discussion, but greatly aggravated 
the feeling then prevailing at the South against the North. This was " John 
Brown's raid." Brown's object was the liberation of slaves. With that in view, 
he and twenty-one associates seized the arsenal at Harper's Ferry, for the pur- 
pose of making it a rendezvous ; but the movement was a total failure. Those 
engaged in it were overpowered by state and national troops ; thirteen of their 
number were killed, two escaped, and the rest, including Brown, were tried and 
hung. 

Election of Abraham Lincoln. — As Buchanan's term of office 
drew toward its close, no less than four candidates were nominated to succeed 
him ; and after an exciting canvass, in which the slavery question was the all- 
absorbing one, the election resulted in favor of Abraham Lincoln, the candidate 
of the Republican party. 

Action of South Carolina. — When it became known that the party 
opposed to the further extension of slavery had been successful, and that Lin- 
coln would be the next president, public meetings were held in South Carolina 
to bring about a secession of that State from the Union ; and, on the 20th of 
December, 1860, an ordinance of secession was passed by a state convention 
held in Charleston. 

Hostilities at Charleston. — Six days after, Major Anderson, com- 
manding at Fort Moultrie, withdrew his force of eighty men from that fort, 
and established himself at Fort Sumter, a place of greater security. This being 
regarded by the South Carolinians as a hostile act, they at once seized the custom^ 
house at Charleston, as well as other property belonging to the general govr 
ernment, and began to make preparations to drive Anderson from his new r posir 
tion. The steamer, Star of the West, sent from New York with supplies and 
re-enforcements for Fort Sumter, arrived off Charleston, January 10th, 1861 ; 
but, being fired upon by batteries which had been erected and manned by 
authority of South Carolina, she was compelled to put back. 



346 The United States Reader. [isci. 

Ordinances of Secession. — During the month of January, five of 
the slave-States, — Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana, — 
following the lead of South Carolina, passed secession ordinances ; and, on the 
first of February, Texas did the same. 

Further Acts of the Secessionists.— On the 4th of February, a 
Congress, composed of delegates from all these States, except Texas, met at 
Montgomery, and, four days after, organized a government by the adoption 
of a " Provisional Constitution," assuming the title of the "Confederate States 
of America." On the 9th, this Congress elected Jefferson Davis " President of 
the Confederacy;" and, on the 18th, Texas being represented, he was duly 
inaugurated. 

Forts, arsenals, navy-yards, custom-houses, and other property belonging to 
the general government, within the boundaries of these States, were seized by 
state authority lor the Confederacy. Fort Pickens, near Pensacola, which had 
been Raved by Lieut. Slemmer, with Fort Sumter, and the forts at the southern 
extremity of Florida, alone remained in the possession of the United States. 
In such a sad and distracted condition were the affairs of the country when 
Abraham Lincoln entered upon the office of president. 

LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION. 
The Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln. — Greeley. 

1. The 4th of March, 1861, though its early morning had 
been cloudy and chilly, was a remarkably bright and genial day 

at Washington. To the children of harsh New England, ifc 
seemed more like May than March. Expectations and threats 
of convulsion had rather increased than lessened the throng, 
wherein all sections of the unseceded States were liberally rep- 
resented; though the Federal District, and the adjacent coun- 
ties of Maryland and Virginia, doubtless supplied by far the 
larger share of it. 

2. Menaces that the presidentelect would never be permitted 
to take the oath of office — that he would be assassinated in the 
act, if no other mode of preventing it should promise success — 
had been so freely and loudly made, that apprehensions of some 
concerted attempt at violence or tumult were widely enter- 
tained and fully justified. Lieutenant-General Scott had taken 
the fullest military precautions that his limited force of regu- 
lars-^perhaps one thousand in all — would permit ; and there 
was a considerable muster of uniformed militia. The proces- 



i86i.] The Nation. 347 

sion, partly civic, which escorted the retiring and incoming 
presidents, who rode in the same carriage to the Capitol, was 
quite respectable — unusually so for that non-enthusiastic, and, 
as yet, strongly pro-slavery metropolis. 

3. The Senate had been sitt ng through most of the preced- 
ing forty-eight hours, though this was Monday, and barely con- 
cluded the labors of the sessi u in time to allow vice-president 
Breckenridge to resign the Chair in a few courteous words, and 
take his seat on the floor as a member, while vice-president 
Hamlin left the floor to take the Chair with as little parade — 
the two thus exchanging places. This done, and several new 
Senators besides Mr. Breckenridge having been sworn in, the 
space in the chamber allotted for this occasion to the Embas- 
sadors of Foreign Powers (" Dixie"* not included) was promptly 
filled by the diplomatic body in full-dress ; the magnates blazing 
with stars and orders. Soon, the Justices of the Supreme Court 
entered in a body, and the assemblage rose in silent homage, 
and stood till they were seated. 

4. The remaining space on the floor was now filled to its 
utmost capacity by members of the House, just adjourned ; and 
it was soon afterward announced that the presidential party 
had entered the edifice. On its appearance, the whole assem- 
blage proceeded to the magnificent and spacious eastern portico 
of the Capitol, on which a platform had been erected, and in 
front of which a considerable space had been cleared, and was 
held by the military. 

5. The president elect was barely introduced to the vast 
concourse by Colonel Edward D. Baker, Senator from Oregon, 
and received with cheers from perhaps a fourth of the thirty 
thousand persons confronting him. Silence having succeeded, 
Mr. Lincoln unrolled a manuscript, and, in a firm, clear, pene- 
trating voice, read his inaugural address. — The American Con- 
flict. 

* The term Dixie, applied to the South, is supposed to be derived from the geographical line, 
drawn by Mason and Dixon, which separated the free from the slave-holding States. Negro melo- 
dies, sung in all parts of the country, have given a wide currency to the name. 



34-8 ♦ The United States Reader. [is6i. 

The Constitution and the People. — Lincoln, 

• [From the Inaugural Address, March 4th, 18(11.] 

1. This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people 
who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the exist- 
ing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of 
amending, or their revolutionary right to dismember or over- 
throw it. I cannot be ignorant of the fact that many worthy 
and patriotic citizens are desirous of having the national 
Constitution amended. While I make no recommendation of 
amendment, I fully recognize the full authority of the people 
over the whole subject, to be exercised in either of the modes 
prescribed in the instrument itself; and I should, under ex- 
isting circumstances, favor, rather than oppose, a fair opportu- 
nity's being afforded the people to act upon if. 

2. I will venture to add, that to me the convention mode 
seems preferable, in that it allows amendments to originate 
with the people themselves, instead of only permitting them to 
take or reject propositions originated by others not especially 
chosen for the purpose, and which might not be precisely such 
us they would "wish either to accept or refuse. I understand 
thai a proposed amendment to the Constitution (which amend- 
ment, however, I have not seen) has passed Congress, to the 
effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere with 
the domestic institutions of States, including that of per- 
sons held to service. To avoid misconstruction of what I have 
said, I depart from my purpose not to speak of particular 
amendments, so far as to say, that, holding such a provision to 
be now implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its 
being made express and irrevocable. 

3. The chief magistrate derives all his authority from the 
people, and they have conferred none upon him to fix the 
terms for the separation of the States. The people themselves, 
also, can do this if they choose; but the executive, as such, 
has nothing to do with it. His duty is to administer the pres- 
ent government as it came to his hands, and to transmit it, 



i86i.] The Nation. 349 

unimpaired by him, to his successor. Why should there not he 
a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people ? Is 
there any better or any equal hope in the world ? 

4. In our present differences, is either party without faith of 
being in the right? If the Almighty Ruler of nations, with 
His eternal truth and justice, be 011 yonr side of the North, or 
on yours of the South, that truth and that justice will surely 
prevail by the judgment of this great tribunal — the American 
people. By the frame of the government under which we live, 
this same people have wisely given their public servants but 
little power for mischief, and have with equal wisdom provided 
for the return of that little to their own hands at very short 
intervals. While the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no 
administration, by any extreme wickedness or folly, can very 
seriously injure the government in the short space of four years. 

5. My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon 
this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking 
time. If there be an object to hurry any of you, in hot haste, 
to a step which you would never take deliberately, that object 
will be frustrated by taking time; but no good object can be 
frustrated by it. Such of you as are now dissatisfied still have 
the old Constitution unimpaired, and, on the sensitive point, 
the laws of your own framing under it; while the new admin- 
istration will have no immediate power, if it would, to change 
either. 

6. If it were admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold the 
right side in the dispute, there is still no single reason for pre- 
cipitate action. Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a 
firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored 
land, are still competent to adjust, in the best way, all our 
present difficulties. In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow- 
countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil 
war. The government will not assail you. You can have no 
conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You can 
have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the government; 
w 7 hile I shall have the most solemn one to " preserve, protect, 
and defend it." 



35o The United States Reader. [isgi. 

7. I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We 
must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it 
must not break, our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of 
memory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot-grave to 
every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, 
will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as 
surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. 

Capture of Fort Sumter. — The assurance of the president that 
there was iro disposition on the part of the new administration to interfere with 
the vested constitutional rights of any of the States, had no effect whatever 
upon the Southern leaders. Regarding their duty to the general government 
as secondary to the obligation they owed to their respective States, they organ- 
ized an army, and ordered Gen. Beauregard ipore-gard) to reduce Fort Sumter. 
Accordingly, on the morning of the 12th of April, the first shot was fired upon the 
fort. After a bombardment of thirty-four hours, the defense being but feeble, 
in consequence of the smallncss of the garrison and the poor supply of ammu- 
nition, Anderson was compelled to capitulate. On the following day (April 
14th) lie departed with his command, and sailed for New York. 

Uprising of the North* — The news of this event produced an almost 
uncontrollable excitement throughout the country; and the president's procla- 
mation, issued on the 15th, calling for troops, was responded to at once by all 
the free States. A Massachusetts regiment, while on its way to defend the na- 
tional capital, was attacked (April 19th) in Baltimore by a mob of Southern 
sympathisers. Two of the soldiers were killed and a number wounded. 

Conduct of tlte Slave- States.— With the exception of Delaware, not 
one of the slave-States arrayed itself promptly and decidedly on the side of the 
Union. Before June, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina, 
passed secession ordinances. Virginians seized the armory at Harper's Ferry 
and the navy-yard at Norfolk, both places having been abandoned by the 
Union officers in charge, after a large part of the property contained therein had 
been destroyed. 

Movements of tlte Xational Army*— -It can hardly be said 
that the national government made any offensive movement before the 24th of 
May. Then Gen. Scott, commanding the Union army, sent troops into Vir- 
ginia ; and Arlington Heights, opposite Washington, as well as the town of 
Alexandria, were occupied. Some days after (June 10th), a force was sent by 
Gen. Butler, commanding at Fortress Monroe, to capture a body of Confederate 
troops posted at Little Bethel, a village on the North side of the James river. 
During the night, two of the Union regiments fired on each other by mistake ; 
and the Confederates, being thus made aware of their approach, escaped. The 
Union troops then pushed on, and were severely repulsed in an attack upon the 
Confederate works at Big Bethel. 



isei.] The Nation. 35 1 



Bethel. — A. J. H. Duganne. 

We mustered at midnight, in darkness we formed, 
And the whisper went round of a fort to be stormed ; 
But no drum-beat had called us, no trumpet we heard, 
And no voice of command, but our colonel's low word, — 
*' Column ! Forward ! " 

And out, through the mist and the murk of the moon, 
From the beaches of Hampton our barges were borne ; 
And we heard not a sound, save the sweep of the oar, 
Till the word of our colonel came up from the shore, — 
" Column ! Forward ! " 

Through green-tasselled cornfields our columns were thrown, 
And like corn by the red scythe of fire we were mown ; 
While the cannon's fierce ploughings new-furrowed the plain, 
That our blood might be planted for Liberty's grain, — 

" Column ! Forward ! " 

Oh ! the fields of fair June have no lack of sweet flowers, 
But their rarest and test breathe no fragrance like ours ; 
And the sunshine of June, sprinkling gold on the corn, 
Hath no harvest that ripeneth like Bethel's red morn, — 
" Column ! Forward ! " 

When our heroes, like bridegrooms, with lips and with breath 
Drank the first kiss of Danger, and clasped her in death ; 
And the heart of brave Winthrop * grew mute with his lyre, 
When the plumes of his genius lay moulting in fire, — 

1 ' Column ! Forward 1" 

Where he fell shall be sunshine as bright as his name, 
And the grass where he slept shall be green as his fame ; 
For the gold of the Pen and the steel of the Sword 
Write his deeds — in his blood — on the land he adored, — 
" Column ! Forward ! " 

And the soul of our comrade shall sweeten the air, 
And the flowers and the grass-blades his memory upbear; 
While the breath of his genius, like music in leaves, 
With the corn-tassels whisper, and sings in the sheaves, — 
u Column ! Forward ! " 

* Major Theodore Winthrop fell while cheering on his men and was left on the battle-field. 
Lieutenant Greble was also killed in this battle. 



352 The United States Reader. [1862. 

Battle of Bull Hun.— The Confederate army, to the number of about 
one hundred thousand men, occupied a line through Virginia, from Harper's 
Ferry to Norfolk; their strongest position being on the road from Washington 
to Richmond, at a place called Manassas Junction. Richmond was then the 
capita] of the Southern Confederacy, the transfer from Montgomery having 
been decided upon in May. About the middle of July, a large army, com- 
manded by Gen. McDowell, marched to attack the Confederates, under Beaure- 
gard, at Manassas Junction. On the 18th, a conflict took place near Centreville. 
On the 21st, occurred the battle of Bull Run, a desperate conflict, in which more 
than forty thousand men were engaged. At length the Confederates, being 
largely re-enforced, prevailed; and the Union troops, panic-stricken, fled in dis- 
order toward Washington. The Union loss reached nearly three thousand men, 
while that of the Confederates did not much exceed half that number. 

Mcdettan'a Army.— War in Missouri.— General McClellan 
was then called to take the chief command, General Scott having resigned on ac- 
count of physical infirmities;- and an immense army was collected at Washing- 
ton, with the purpose of invading Virginia, and capturing Richmond. This 
army did not set out until April, 1S62. Meanwhile, an active warfare had been 
carried on in Missouri, with varying success. 

Union Naval Victories. — The Federal navy had been greatly in- 
creased, and, by means of it, strong positions were wrested from the Confed- 
erates. Two coast expeditions — one to North Carolina, and the other to South 
Carolina— were completely successful. In the first, Commodore Stringham 
and General Butler, commanding a naval and military force, captured the 
Confederate forts at Hatteras Inlet. In the second, Commodore Du-pont', with 
a fleet of about fifty vessels, captured the (bits at Port Royal entrance. 

Capture of Confederate Commissioners. — On the sea an event 

occurred in November, which produced great excitement both in the United 
States and Great Britain. Captain Wilkes (rvilks), in command of the frigate 
San Jacinto, intercepted an English steamer, and took from her Messrs. Mason 
and Sli-deir, Confederate commissioners to Europe ; but as the seizure was con- 
trary to the rights of neutral vessels, and the British government resented the 
act as illegal, the two prisoners were given up. This affair tended to make 
still less amicable the relations which, at the time, existed between the United 
States and England ; for, before the last of the States that passed secession 
ordinances joined the Confederacy, Queen Victoria (May 13th, 1861) had ac- 
knowledged the South as a belligerent power ; and France, soon after, pursued 
the same course. 

Capture of Torts Henry and Donelson.—ln February (1862), 
Commodore Foote, commanding a fleet of gunboats, sailed up the Tennessee, 
and, on the 6th, reduced Fort Henry. Bowling Green was soon after aban- 
doned. On the 16th, General Grant, with the co-operation of the fleet, effected 
the important capture of Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland, with sixteen thou- 



1862.] The Nation. 353 

_ , 

sand prisoners. The Confederates thereupon evacuated Columbus and Nash- 
ville. 

Other Union Victories. — An important success, meanwhile, attended 
the efforts of the Unionists on the Atlantic coast. A land and naval expedition, 
sailing from Hampton Roads, under General Burnside and Commodore Golds- 
borongh, captured Roanoke Island (Feb. 8th). This success was followed by 
the destruction of the Confederate flotilla at Elizabeth City, by the capture of 
that and other places, and by a victory gained by Burnside at Newbern. An 
expedition fitted out at Port Royal captured Fort Pulaski. 

The Ham Merrimac, or Virginia. — The Merrimac, which had 
been sunk at Norfolk by the Union commander there at the beginning of the 
war, had been subsequently raised by the Confederates, cut down almost to the 
water's edge, covered with a plating of iron, and named the Virginia. On the 
8th of March * she steamed out from Norfolk to Hampton Roads, and destroyed 
the United States vessels Cumberland and Congress. The night set in, and it 
was anticipated that next day all the national vessels in the vicinity of Fortress 
Monroe would be destroyed. But, during the night, the Monitor, a newly in- 
vented floating battery, commanded by Lieutenant Worden (icur'den), arrived 
from New York, and on the following day encountered the Virginia. After 
a contest of several hours, the latter, in a disabled condition, returned to Norfolk. 

The Merrimac and the Monitor. — Estvan. 

[The author of the work from which this piece is an extract, was a colonel of cavalry 
in the Confederate army.] 

1. Great activity was now observable on board the enemy's 
two frigates [Cumberland and Congress]. Their ports opened, 
and their formidable guns showed their angry mouths, as if in 
defiance of the approaching foe. As soon as our vessels had 
got within range, all the gunboats kept some distance astern, 
and the Merrimac passed on steadily by herself. As soon as 
she got alongside of the Congress, she fired a broadside into her, 
which was immediately replied to by that frigate, and by all 
the land batteries as well, but with literally no effect, for the 
shot glided harmlessly off the Merrimac's iron sides like so 
many hailstones. 

2. Thus unhurt, she steamed toward the Cumberland, without 
taking the slightest notice of the fire directed upon her by the 
unfortunate ship which she had doomed to destruction. When 

* On the same day, General Curtis, ably seconded by General Sigel, defeated the Confederates 
wider Van Dora, at Pea Eidge, Arkansas, after three days' hard fighting. 



354 The United States Reader. [1862. 

within forty yards of the Cumberland, the crew of the Merrimac 
could distinctly hear the orders that were given on board that 
frigate, and the remarks' made by her crew, " What is this com- 
ing ? What can she be about ? " 

3. The commander of the Merrimac now raked the Cumber- 
land's decks with an enormous cylinder shell, and this fearful 
missile dealt tremendous havoc amongst her crew. The Mer- 
rimac then swept round in a half circle, running her pointed 
beak straight into the sides of the Cumberland. The captain 
of that frigate, meanwhile, directed a heavy fire upon the Mer- 
rimac from every gun which could be brought to bear upon 
her at such close quarters ; the shots, however, glanced harm- 
lessly off the deck and sides of this sea-monster, which contin- 
ued its course, and the Merri mac's sharp point was soon buried 
in the frigate's stalwart hull. A stunning crash is heard, and 
the next minute the magnificent frigate is seen reeling about 
like a drunken man. Her brave captain, unwilling to yield, 
continues his fire in spite of the desperate condition of the ship. 

4. Gradually the ship settles down deeper and deeper in 
the water, and the waves are seen pouring in at the portholes; 
once more she rises and vomits forth fire on her assailant, and 
then, finally heeling over, the fine ship sinks to rise no more, car- 
rying a huge number of her ill-fated crew along with her. She 
went down noiselessly, her brave crew emulating her in this 
respect by meeting their fate without uttering a cry. For a 
few moments after she sank, the waters were disturbed where 
she had but so lately been riding in all the pride of conscious 
strength, and then settled calmly over her. 

5. The destruction of this splendid ship, with so many of 
her crew, in broad daylight and the calmest weather, in the 
midst of this beautiful bay, must have caused a panic among the 
remainder of the enemy's squadron. Nevertheless, the Congress 
kept her ground, and prepared to defend the honor of her flag 
against the redoubtable iron-clad. The Merrimac now steered 
straight for that frigate ; but her career was presently checked 
by getting into shoal water. Her captain, judging that it 
would be impracticable for him to get any closer to the Con- 



is 62.] The Nation. 355 

gress, then opened a heavy fire upon that ship. Ere long the 
Merrimae's projectiles pierced through the frigate's wooden 
walls, and caused such destruction on board that her com- 
mander was obliged to strike his flag and surrender. 

6. Captain Buchanan then ceased firing, and signalled the 
gunboat Beaufort, ordering Lieutenant Parker, her command- 
er, to go on board the Congress and receive her flag, and to 
bring away all the officers and crew. Captain Smith and Lieu- 
tenant Prendergast, of the Congress, in reply to this latter 
summons, requested permission to remain on board their ship, 
in order to take care of the wounded, which was readily granted 
by Captain Buchanan. 

7. At this juncture, however, the land batteries most inju- 
diciously again opened fire upon the gunboat Beaufort, and 
although no casualty ensued therefrom, Captain Buchanan 
was so incensed that he ordered red-hot shot to be fired into the 
Congress to effect her total destruction. Just about this time, 
however, he was struck on the foot by a Minie bullet, and was 
obliged to hand over the command to his first^lieutenant, Jones, 
to whom he gave stringent orders to sink the unfortunate 
Congress. The lieutenant executed this command to the 
letter ; and, in spite of all the efforts of the enemy's frigate 
Minnesota, and of the Boanoke and Lawrence, to assist their 
stricken consort, the Congress was utterly destroyed. 

8. Meanwhile, a feeling of prodigious excitement pervaded 
the crowd of spectators on shore. Two of the enemy's formi- 
dable frigates had already been destroyed by our iron scourge, 
and the next day, no doubt, she would effect the demolition of 
the enemy's remaining ships. Our sanguine people already in- 
dulged in pleasant anticipations of a re-opened intercourse with 
Europe. So certain, indeed, did many feel of the realization of 
their hopes, that they at once set about taking measures for 
the opening of the port preparatory to various mercantile spec- 
ulations. They complacently dilated, too, upon the consequen- 
ces that might be expected to ensue from the triumphal 
progress of the Merrimac to Washington, not doubting that 
she would destroy everything in her way thither. Probably 



356 The United States Reader, [1862. 

but few were composed enough to sleep that night. Thousands, 
indeed, encamped on the shores of the bay, eagerly awaiting 
the dawn of day and the recommencement of the naval battle. 

9. The day broke at last, and discovered an enormous assem- 
blage of people awaiting the coming event in eager expecta- 
tion. The enemy's frigates Roanoke and Lawrence had sought 
protection under the guns of Fort Monroe, but the colossal 
frigate Minnesota still lay quietly at anchor in the bay. Along- 
side of her, however, was to be seen a curious little craft of no 
particular form, resembling more a capsized whaler than any- 
thing else. By and by, the Merrimac steamed out into the bay 
toward her antagonist, amidst the vociferous cheers of the 
thousands collected on the shores. 

10. Captain Buchanan had sent his gunboats Jamestown and 
Yorktown ahead to reconnoitre the strange-looking little craft. 
They approached her with the utmost caution, and, as they 
gradually drew near, she fired two shots at them from the 
enormous guns that now peeped from the turret on her deck, 
by way of welcome or warning; they received the compliment 
in the latter sense, and hastily retreated. The Merrimac now 
put on full steam, and bore down on her little enemy with the 
object of running her beak into her so as to sink her by sheer 
weight. 

11. She had already got to within thirty yards' distance, and 
was in-t paring for the fatal thrust, when the Monitor twisted 
suddenly round, like a fish, and at the same moment discharged 
one of her heavy guns point blank at the Merrimac, to let her 
know that she had now to encounter a foe as formidable as herself. 
The Merrimac then slowly ranged alongside her diminutive 
antagonist, and both opened fire with ordnance of a more de- 
structive character than had ever before been employed in 
naval encounters ; 100 and 120 pound Armstrong and other 
equally powerful guns, discharging their fire at a distance of 
one hundred and fifty yards. But it was to little purj^ose, the 
balls glancing off equally from the iron sides of both ships. 

This useless cannonade continued for more than two 
hours, when another attempt was made by the Merrimac to 



is 62.] The Nation. 357 

run down her enemy; but the Monitor again skillfully avoided 
the intended shock, and managed, moreover, to send a shell 
through one of the port-holes of her antagonist, spreading death 
and destruction among the crew. The Merrimac now continued 
her fire with redoubled fury, but it was steadily replied to; and 
the commander of the Merrimac, seeing the impossibility of 
seriously damaging his opponent, at last veered round, and 
steamed away toward Norfolk, leaving the Monitor in possession 
of the waters which had been the scene of this unparalleled 
conflict. — War-Pictures from the South. 

The Last Broadside.— Elizabeth T. P. Beach. 

[These verses were written to commemorate the heroism of the crew of the "Cum- 
berland," who bravely fired a last broadside while the ship was sinking, in answer to the 
gallant hero, Lieutenant Morris, who shouted: " Shall we give them a broadside as she 
goes?"] 

Shall we give them a broadside, my boys, as she goes ? 

Shall we send yet another to tell, 
In iron-tongued words, to Columbia's foes, 
How bravely her sods say Farewell? 

Ay ! what though we sink 'neath the turbulent wave, 

'Tis with duty and right at the helm ; 
And over the form should the fierce waters rave, 

No tide can the spirit o'erwhelm ! 

For swift o'er the billows of Charon's dark stream 

We'll pass to the immortal shore, 
Where the waters of life in brilliancy beam, 

And the pure float iu peace evermore. 

" Shall we give them a broadside once more, my brave men ? " 

" Ay ! Ay ! " was the full, earnest cry ; 
" A broadside ! A broadside ! we'll give them again ! 

Then for God and the Right nobly die ! " 

" Haste ! Haste ! " — for amid all that battling din 
Comes a gurgling sound fraught with fear, 
As swift flowing waters pour rushingly in ; 
Up ! up ! till her port-holes they near. 

No blanching ! — no faltering ! — still fearless all seem ; 

Each man firm to duty doth bide ; 
A flash ! and a " Broadside ! " a shout ! a careen ! 

And the Cumberland sinks 'neath the tide ! 



3 58 



The United States Reader. [1862. 



The " Star-Spangled Banner " still floating above ! 

As a beacon upon the dark wave ! 
Our Ensign of Glory, proud streaming in love, 

O'er the tomb of the " Loyal and Brave ! " 

Bold hearts ! mighty spirits ! " tried gold " of our land ! 

A halo of glory your meed ! 
All honored, the noble-souled Cumberland band ! 

So true in Columbia's need ! 

Victories on the Mississijyjri' — Tne Union forces at the West, under 
General Pope, were victorious in March, taking New Madrid. Again they 
were victorious (April 7th), co-operating with Foote's gunboat fleet in the cap- 
ture of Island No. 10, with six thousand prisoners. The gunboats then de- 
scended the Mississippi, defeating the Confederate fleet, near Fort Pillow. On 
the 6th of June, Commodore Davis, Foote's successor, gained a victory over 
the Confederate fleet at Memphis, the town in consecnience falling into his 
hands. 

Battle of ShUoh, — Gen. Grant, after his victory at Fort Donelson, pro- 
ceeded ii]) the Tennessee. On the morning of the 6th of April, his army, while 
encamped at Shiloh (shi'/o), near Pittsburg Landing, was suddenly attacked by 
Gen. A. S. Johnston's army ; and, after a contest which raged till near night- 
fall, the Union troops were driven to the river, where the gunboats aided them 
to keep the enemy in check. Gen. Johnston was killed. The arrival of re- 
enforcements under Gen. Buell, enabled Grant to assume the offensive on the 
following day, and the Confederates, commanded by Beauregard, were driven 
toward Corinth. The forces engaged in this battle, on both sides, numbered 
more than a hundred thousand men; and the losses were severe, being not less 
than twenty thousand.* 

Capture of New Orleans. — In Louisiana, the Union cause met with 
a success of great importance. This was the capture of New Orleans, on the 
25th of April. The Union fleet, commanded by Far'ra-gut and Porter, ascended 
the Mississippi, bombarding and then running past the Confederate forts. The 
city was reached, and Geu. Butler, taking formal possession, placed it under 
martial law. 

Defeat of General McClellan. — These great victories were counter- 
balanced by the ill success of McClellan, who had attempted to reach Richmond 
by the peninsula between the York and James Rivers.t Having arrived, within 
a short distance of the city, he was suddenly attacked, at Fair Oaks, by the Con- 
federates, where a bloody but indecisive contest took place (May 31). A move- 
ment of McClellan's to change his base of operations to the James River, 

* Rosecrans (roge^kranto), commanding a division of Grant's army, defeated the Confederates in 
the battle of I-u-ka (Sept. 1% and in the battle of Corinth (Oct. 4). 

f The battle of Williamsburg was fought during the march (May 5). 



1862.] The Nation, 359 

brought on a series of destructive battles, lasting through seven days (June 25- 
July 1), the result of which was to leave the Union array in a very weakened 
condition. In these conflicts the contending armies numbered together not Jess 
than two hundred thousand men ; and their joint losses amounted to at least 
thirty thousand. 

Invasion of Maryland,— McClellan superseded.— Taking 
advantage of the weak condition of the Union army, the Confederates, under ' 
Gen. Lee, marched toward Washington ; but were confronted by the forces of 
Gen. Banks and Gen. Pope. These were defeated, the latter in the second bat- 
tle of Bull Run (Aug. 29th and 30th) ; and Lee crossed the Potomac into Mary- 
land. Meanwhile, McClellan had been recalled from the James, and having 
assumed the command of the army in Maryland, defeated Lee, in the battle of 
South Mountain and in the greater conflict of Antietam (cm-te'tam) (Sept. 17). 
Lee at once withdrew across the Potomac ; but McClellan made no pursuit, and 
in November was superseded by Burnside. 

Barbara Frietchie. — WMttier. 

[It was during this invasion of Maryland, at the town of Frederick, in that State, that 
the interesting incident described in the following poem, by Whittier, occurred. It illus- 
trated very impressively the affection at that period universally evinced by the loyal 
citizens of the Republic, for the national flag.] 

Up from the meadows rich with com, 
Clear in the cool September mora, 

The cluster' d spires of Frederick stand, 
Green- wall'd by the hills of Maryland. 

Round about them orchards sweep, 
Apple and peach-tree fruited deep, 

Fair as a garden of the Lord, 

To the eyes of the famish'd rebel horde, 

On that pleasant morn of the early Fall, 
When Lee mareh'd over the mountain wall, 

Over the mountains winding down, 
Horse and foot, into Frederick town. 

Forty flags with their silver stars, 
Forty flags with their crimson bars, 

Flapp'd in the morning wind: the sun 
Of noon look'cl down, and saw not one. 

Up rose old Barbara Frietchie then, 
Bow'd with her fourscore years and ten ; 
16 



3^o The United States Readei'. [1862. 

Bravest of all iii Frederick town, 

She took up the flag the men liaul'd down ; 

In her attic window the staff she set, 
To show that one heart was loyal yet. 

Up the street came the rebel tread, 
Stonewall Jackson riding ahead. 

Under his slouch'd hat, left and right, 
He glanced ; the old flag met his sight : 

" Halt! " — the dust-brown ranks stood fast; 
"Fire!" — out blazed the rifle-blast. 

It shivered the window, pane and sash; 
' It rent the banner with seam and gash. 

Quick, as it fell, from the broken staff 
Dame Barbara snatched the silken scarf; 

She leaned far out on the window-sill, 
And shook it forth with a royal will: 

" Shoot, if you must, this old gray head, 
But spare your country's flag ! " she said. 

A shade of sadness, a blush of shame, 
Over the face of the leader came; 

The nobler nature within him stirred 
To life, at that- woman's deed and word: 

" AVho touches a hair of yon gray head 
Dies like a dog ! March on ! " he said. 

All day long through Frederick street 
Sounded the tread of marching feet ; 

All day long that free flag toss'd 
Over the heads of the rebel host. 

Ever its torn folds rose and fell 

On the loyal winds that loved it well; 

And through the hill-gaps, sunset light 
Shone over it with a warm good-night. 

Barbara Frietchie's work is o'er, 

And the rebel rides on his raids no more. 



The A T ation. 361 

Honor to her ! and let a tear 

Fall, for her sake, on Stonewall's bier. 

Over Barbara Frietchie's grave, 
Flag of Freedom and Union, wave ! 

Peace, and order, and beauty, draw 
Round thy symbol of light and law ; 

And ever the stars above look down 
On thy stars below in Frederick town ! 

History of Our Flag. — Bev. A. jP. Putnam. 

[From a discourse delivered at Roxbury, Mass.] 

1. The history of our glorious old flag is of exceeding inter- 
est, and brings back to us a throng of sacred and thrilling 
associations. t The banner of St. Andrew was blue, charged 
with a white altier or cross, in the form of the letter X, and 
was used in Scotland as early as the eleventh century. The 
banner of St. George was white, charged with the red cross, and 
was used in England as early as the first part of the fourteenth 
century. By a royal proclamation, dated April 12, 1700, these 
two crosses were joined together upon the same banner, form- 
ing the ancient national flag of England. 

2. It was not until Ireland, in 1801, w r as made apart of Great 
Britain, that the present national flag of England, so well 
known as the Union Jack, was completed. But it was the 
ancient flag of England that constituted the basis of our Amer- 
ican banner. Various other flags had indeed been raised at 
other times by our colonial ancestors. But they were not par- 
ticularly associated with, or, at least, were not incorporated into 
and made a part of the destined " Stars and Stripes." 

3. It was after Washington had taken command of the first 
army of the Revolution, at Cambridge, that (January 2, 1776) 
he unfolded before them the new flag of thirteen stripes of 
alternate red and white, having upon one of its corners the red 
and white crosses of St. George and St. Andrew, on a field of 
blue. And this was the standard which was borne into the city 



362 The United States Reader. 

of Boston when it was evacuated by the British troops, and was 
entered by the American army. 

4. Uniting, as it did, the flags of England and America, it 
showed that the colonists were not yet prepared to sever the tie 
that bound them to the mother-country. By that union of 
flags, they claimed to be a vital and substantial part of the 
empire of Great Britain, and demanded the rights and privi- 
leges which such a relation implied. Yet it w 7 as by these thir- 
teen stripes that they made known the union also of the thirteen 
colonies, the stripes of white declaring the purity and innocence 
of their cause, and the stripes of red giving forth defiance to 
cruelty and opposition. 

5. On the 14th day of June, 177G, it w r as resolved by Con- 
gress, "That the flag of the "thirteen United States be thirteen 
stripes, alternate red and white, and the Union be thirteen 
while stars in the blue field:' This resolution was made public 
September 3, 177G, and the flag that was first made and used in 
pursuance of it was that which led the Americans to victory at 
Saratoga. Here the thirteen stars were arranged in a circle, as 
we sometimes see them now, in order better to express the union 
of the States. 

6. In 1704, there having been two more new States added to 
the Union, it was voted that the alternate stripes, as well as the 
circling stars, be fifteen in number, and the flag, as thus altered 
and enlarged, was the one which was borne through all the con- 
tests of the w r ar of 1812. But it was thought that the flag 
would at length become too large if a new stripe should be 
added with every freshly-admitted State. It was therefore 
enacted, in 1818, that a permanent return should be made to 
the original number of thirteen stripes, and that the number 
of stars should henceforth correspond to the growing number 
of States. 

7. Thus the flag would symbolize the Union as it might be 
at any given period of its history, and also as it was at the very 
hour of its birth. It was at the same time suggested that these 
stars, instead of being arranged in a circle, should be formed 
into a single star — a suggestion which we occasionally see 



Tlie Nation. 363 



adopted. In fine, no particular order seems now to be observed 
with respect to the arrangement of the constellation. It is 
enough if only the whole number be there upon that azure field 
— the blue to be emblematical of perseverance, vigilance, and 
justice, each star to signify the glory of the State it may repre- 
sent, and the whole to be eloquent forever of a Union that 
must be " one and inseparable.'' 

8. What precious associations cluster around our flag ! Not 
alone have our fathers set up this banner in the name of God 
over the well-won battle-fields of the Revolution, and over the 
cities and towns which they rescued from despotic rule ; but 
think where also their descendants have carried it, and raised it 
in conquest or protection! Through what clouds of dust and 
smoke has it passed — what storms of shot and shell — what 
scenes of fire and blood! Not only at Saratoga, at Monmouth, 
and at Yorktown, but at Lundy's Lane and New Orleans, at 
Buena Vista and Chapultepec. It is the same glorious old flag 
which, inscribed with the dying words of LawTence, "Doirt 
give up the ship," was hoisted on Lake Erie by Commodore 
Perry just on the eve of his great naval victory — the same old 
flag which our great chieftain bore in triumph to the proud city 
of the Aztecs, and planted upon the heights of her national 
palace. Brave hands raised it above the eternal regions of ice 
in the Arctic seas, and have set it up on the summits of the lofty 
mountains of the distant West. 

9. Where has it not gone, the pride of its friends and the 
terror of its foes ? What countries and what seas has it not 
visited? Where has not the American citizen been able to 
stand beneath its guardian folds and defy the world? With 
what joy and exultation seamen and tourists have gazed 
upon its stars and stripes, read in it the history of their nation's 
glory, received from it the full sense of security, and drawn 
from it the inspirations of patriotism ! By it, how many have 
sworn fealty to their country ! 

- 10. What bursts of magnificent eloquence it has called forth 
from Webster and from Everett! What lyric strains of poetry 
from Drake and Holmes ! How many heroes its folds have 



364 The United States Reader. [1863. 

covered in death ! How many have lived for it, and how many 
have died for it ! How many, living and dying, have said, in 
their enthusiastic devotion to its honor, like that young wounded 
sufferer in the streets of Baltimore, " Oh, the flag! the Stars and 
Stripes ! " and, wherever that flag has gone, it has been the herald 
of a better day — it has been the pledge of freedom, of justice, 
of order, of civilization, and of Christianity. Tyrants only 
have hated it, and the enemies of mankind alone have trampled 
it to the earth. All who sigh for the triumph of truth and 
righteousness love and salute it. 

Baffle of Fredericksburg. — Led by General Burnside, their new 
commander, the Union army crossed the Rappahannock, the design being to 
march against Richmond by the route from Fredericksburg. Fredericksburg was 
taken (Dec. 12th), but, after a disastrous attempt to carry the works behind the 
city, the liver was rccrossed. 

Emancipation Proclamation, — On the first of January, 1863, 
President Lincoln issued his memorable proclamation, declaring free all the 
slaves within the borders of the States at war with the general government. 
By this measure more than three millions of slaves were declared free. On the 
same day Gal'ves-ton was taken ; and the naval force before the place was cap- 
tured, destroyed, or dispersed by the Confederates 

Baffle of ('haneellovsvillc. — Burnside having, at his own request, 
been relieved oi' the command of the Army of the Potomac, was succeeded by 
Gen. Hooker, who, toward the latter part of April, crossed the Rappahannock, 
and, encountering Lee (May 3d and 4th) at Chancellorsvillc, was disastrously 
defeated, losing more than eleven thousand men, in killed and wounded. 
He then rccrossed the river. In this battle, the Confederate army lost its most 
brilliant general, Thomas J. Jackson, commonly known as " Stonewall Jack- 
son," * who, toward the close of the action, was mortally wounded, it i* said, by 
the lire of his own men, being, with his staff and escort, mistaken, in the dark- 
ness, for a company of Union cavalry. 

Second Invasion of Maryland.-— Baffle of Gettysburg.—; 

On the 9th of June, Lee, whose army numbered nearly a hundred thousand 
men, began a northward movement; and Hooker followed the invaders into 
Maryland, where (June 28th) his command was transferred to Gen. Meade. 
At Gettysburg (get'tiz-hunj), Pennsylvania, one of the most important conflicts 
of the war took place during the first three days of July. Lee was finally de- 
feated, and his army being reduced one-third, he made a rapid retreat. t 

* He received this name at the first battle of Bull Run. from his firmness and intrepidity when 
defeat seemed imminent, one of the Confederate "generals exclaiming, " Here stands Jackson like a 
xtonr vail, and here let us conquer or die ! " 

+ The battle of Gettysburg is generally regarded as the greatest of the war. It was a " turning 
point'' iu the long conflict between the North and the South. 



1863.] The Nation. -\ 65 



National Cemetery at Gettysburg. — Lincoln. 

[One of the most interesting events of the year 1863 was the inauguration of the Na- 
tional Cemetery at Gettysburg (Nov. 19). It took place in the presence of a vast con- 
course of visitors, and an oration was delivered by Edward Everett. The brief address 
of President Lincoln, on that occasion, was especially admired for the touching pathos of 
its sentiment and the simple beauty of its diction. Of all his utterances, this is doubt- 
less the most expressive of the purity and loftiness of his character.] 

1. Fouescore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth 
upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and ded- 
icated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now, 
we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, 
or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. 
We are met on a great battle-field of that war. AVe have come 
to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for 
those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. 

2. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. 
But, in a larger sense, we cannot hallow this ground. The 
brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have conse- 
crated it far above our power to add or detract. The world 
will little note, nor long remember, what we say here ; but it 
can never forget what they did here. 

3. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the 
unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so 
nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to 
the great task remaining before us ; that from these honored 
dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they 
gave the last full measure of devotion ; that we here highly re- 
solve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this 
nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom ; and that 
government of the people, by the people, and for the people, 
shall not perish from the earth. 

Union Victories in the South. — In the mean time, General Grant, 
.having gained a series of victories over the Confederate forces in the south- 
west, succeeded in taking Vicksburg, after a siege of several months (July 4th) ; 
and Port Hudson having soon afterward surrendered to Gen. Banks, the Missis- 
sippi w r as completely opened. Gen. Rosecrans, who, in the beginning of the 
year, had gained an important victory over a large Confederate army under 



366 The United States Reader. [1864. 

Gen. Bragg, at Mur' frees -bo-ro (Jan. 2, 1863), was attacked near Chick-a-mau'- 
ga Creek by Bragg, and compelled to fall back (Sept. 20.) The timely arrival 
of Hooker and Grant, the latter of whom took the command, enabled the Union 
army to gain a decided victory, after a three days' conflict ; and Bragg was 
driven back into Georgia (Nov. 25). 

Operations of Grant, Sherman, and Thomas.— Gq\\. Grant, 
having been appointed commander-in-chief of all the armies of the Union, ar- 
ranged, in the spring of 1865, two campaigns — one against Richmond, under 
his own direction, and the other against Atlanta, under Gen. Sherman. The 
latter, by a series of masterly movements, compelled the Confederates to retreat, 
and finally succeeded in taking Atlanta (Sept. 2), which having destroyed, he 
made his memorable march through Georgia to the sea-coast, and occupied 
Savannah (Dec. 21). Meanwhile, Gen. Thomas, who had been left by Sherman 
with a considerable force in Tennessee, attacked the Confederate army under 
Hood, and, after a battle of two days, routed it with great slaughter (Dec. 15). 

Grant's Campaign in Virginia, — In Virginia, Gen. Grant had 
in the mean time encountered the Confederate army under Lee ; and after a 
series of terrific battles, compelled it to retreat toward "Richmond ; but Grant, 
having transferred his army to the south bank of the James, Lee, whose move- 
ments had been conducted with consummate skill, occupied Petersburg, and thus 
compelled the Unionists to lay siege to that city (June). 

Operations in the Shenandoah Valley.— The valley of the She- 
nandoah River was the scene of frequent and severe conflicts. During the siege 
of Petersburg, Lee detached twenty thousand men, under Gen. Early, to invade 
Maryland. Having defeated the Union forces under Gen. Wallace, he crossed 
the Potomac and threatened AVashin^ton and Baltimore. Grant hurried off 
troops for the defense of Washington, and a strong force was organized for 
Sheridan, who relieved Hunter from command. On the 19th of September, 
Sheridan attacked and routed Early near Winchester ; and, three days after, at 
Fisher's Hill, he routed the Confederates again. Just a month after his victory 
at Winchester, his troops, then at Cedar Creek, were suddenly attacked and 
driven from the field, he, at the time, being absent. Arriving at this critical 
time, he arranged his lines, repulsed an attack, assailed in return, and, for the 
third time, routed Early's army. This incident is poetically described in the 
following lines. 

Sheridan's Ride.— Mead. 

Up from the South at break of day, 
Bringing to Winchester fresh dismay, 
The affrighted air with a shudder bore, 
Like a herald in haste to the chieftain's door, 
The terrible grumble, and rumble, and roar, 
Telling the battle "was on once more, 
And Sheridan twenty miles away. 



is 64.] The Nation. 367 

And wider still those billows of war 

Thundered along the horizon's bar ; 

And louder yet into Winchester rolled 

The roar of that red sea uncontrolled, 

Making the blood of the listener cold, 

As he thought of the stake in that fiery fray, 

And Sheridan twenty miles away. 

But there is a road from Winchester town, 

A good, broad highway leading down; 

And there, through the flush of the morning light, 

A steed as black as the steeds of night 

Was seen to pass, as with eagle flight, 

As if he knew the terrible need : 

He stretched away with his utmost speed ; 

Hills rose and fell ; but his heart was gay, 

With Sheridan fifteen miles away. 

Still sprung from those swift hoofs, thundering South, 
The dust, like smoke from the cannon's mouth, 
Or the trail of a comet, sweeping faster and faster, 
Foreboding to traitors the doom of disaster. 
The heart of the steed and the heart of the master 
Were beating like prisoners assaulting their walls, 
Impatient to be where the battle-field calls ; 
Every nerve of the charger was strained to full play, 
With Sheridan only ten miles away. 

Under his spurning feet the road 

Like an arrowy Alpine river flowed, 

And the landscape sped away behind 

Like an ocean flying before the wind ; 

And the steed, like a bark fed with furnace ire, 

Swept on, with his wild eyes full of fire. 

But lo ! he is nearing his heart's desire ; 

He is snuffing the smoke of the roaring fray, 

With Sheridan only five miles away. 

The first that the general saw were the groups 
Of stragglers, and then the retreating troops ; 
What was done ? what to do ? a glance told him both. 
Then, striking his spurs, with a terrible oath, 
He dashed down the line, 'mid a storm of huzzas, 
And the wave of retreat checked its course there, because 
The sight of the master compelled it to pause. 
16* 



368 The United States Reader. [1364. 

With foam and with dust the black charger was gray ; 
By the flash of his eye, and the red nostril's play, 
He seemed to the whole great army to say, 
" I have brought you Sheridan all the way 
From Winchester, down to save the day/' 

Hurrah ! hurrah for Sheridan ! 
Hurrah ! hurrah for horse and man ! 
And when their statues are placed on high, 
Under the dome of the Union sky — 
The American soldier's temple of fame — 
There, with the glorious general's name, 
Be it said, in letters both bold and bright, 

" Here is the steed that saved the day, 
By carrying Sheridan into the fight 

From Winchester, twenty miles away ! " 

Destruction of the Alabama. — The Confederates, by means of 
English-built privateers, sailing under the Confederate flag, succeeded in destroy- 
ing a large number of American merchantmen. Semmcs, in the Alabama, 
resumed * his career of destruction, luring vessels by hoisting the British flag ; 
but the Alabama was at last met (June 19) by the Kearsarge (ke'ar-sarj), Cap- 
tain Winslow, and, after a short contest, was sunk. 

Victor if by Admiral Farrayut — Of all the achievements of the 
army or navy of the United States during the* war, none were more brilliant 
than that of Admiral Farragut in Mobile Bay (Aug. 5th). He succeeded in 
passing Forts Morgan and Gaines, at the entrance of the bay, and then gained 
a complete victory over the Confederate fleet. The two forts were afterwards 
captured. 

Occupation of Wilmington. — The active operations of 1865 began 
with the reduction of Fort Fisher, the main defense of Wilmington. This was 
accomplished (January 15th) by eight thousand men, under General Terry, 
aided by Admiral Porter's fleet. About a month before, Butler had made a 
demonstration against the fort, but deeming the works too strong to be carried 
by his force, returned to Fortress Monroe. Wilmington was occupied by the 
Federal troops a few days after the capture of the fort (Feb. 22d). 

Victories gained by Sherman. — Sherman, having halted at Sa- 
vannah only long enough to refit his army, was again in motion by the 1st of 
February. On the 17th he captured Columbia, compelling the Confederates, 
by this achievement, to evacuate Charleston. He next entered North Carolina, 
fought and defeated General Hardee (March 16th), and, four days later, gained 
a victory over General J. E. Johnston. 

Occupation of Richmond. — Surrender of Lee.— On the 29th 
of March (1865) the final movement of the national forces, which Gen. Grant had 

* He had previously commanded the steamer Sumter, and captured a great many vessels. 



isg5.] The Nation. 369 

gathered around Richmond commenced ; and, after ten days' marching and fight- 
ing, the campaign was ended. On the 3d of April, both Petersburg and Rich- 
mond were occupied by the nation's victorious troops. The retreating army 
■was hotly pursued by Sheridan ; and, on the 9th, Lee, overtaken and surround- 
ed, surrendered to Grant near Appomattox Court-House. 

Evacuation of Richmond. — Tollard. 

[When Lee found that his positiou at Petersburg was no longer tenable, he immedi- 
ately sent a telegram to Davis in Richmond, containing very nearly the following words : 
" My lines are broken in three places, Richmond must be evacuated this evening." This 
occurred on Sunday. April 2d. and the dispatch reached Mr. Davis while he sat in church, 
where it was handed to him amid the fearful silence and apprehension of the congrega- 
tion. The Confederate President hurried from the church, and a rumor was immediately 
circulated that the city was to be abandoned. The following description is from E. A. 
Pollard's Southern Histoid of the War.] 

1. Mex, women, and children rushed from the churches, 
passing from lip to lip news of the impending fall of Richmond. 
And yet it was difficult to believe it. To look up to the calm, 
beautiful sky of that spring day, unassailed by one single noise 
of battle ; to watch the streets unvexed by artillery or troops, 
stretching away into the quiet, hazy atmosphere, and believe 
that the capital of the Confederacy, so peaceful, so apparently 
secure, was in a few hours to be the prey of the enemy, and to 
be wrapped in the infernal horrors of a conflagration ! 

2. It was late in the afternoon when the signs of evacuation 
became apparent to the incredulous. Wagons on the streets 
were being hastily loaded at the departments with boxes, trunks, 
etc., and driven to the Danville depot. Those who had deter- 
mined to leave with the fugitive government looked on with 
amazement ; then, convinced of the fact, rushed to follow the 
goVernment's example. Vehicles suddenly rose to a premium 
value that was astounding ; and ten, fifteen, and even a hun- 
dred dollars, in gold or Federal currency, was offered for a con- 
veyance. 

3. Suddenly, as if by magic, the streets became filled with 
men, walking as though for a wager, and behind them excited 
negroes with trunks, bundles, and luggage of every description. 
All over the city it was the same — wagons, trunks, bandboxes, 
and their owners, a mass of hurrying fugitives, filling the streets. 



3/0 The United States Reader. [isgs. 

The banks were all open, and depositors were as busy as bees 
removing their specie deposits ; and the directors were equally 
active in getting off their bullion. Hundreds of thousands of 
dollars of paper-money were destroyed, both State and Con- 
federate. 

4. Night came ; and with it came confusion worse confounded. 
There was no sleep for human eyes in Richmond that night. 
The City Council had met in the evening, and resolved to de- 
stroy all the liquor in the city, to avoid the disorder consequent 
on the.temptation to drink at such a time. About the hour of 
midnight the work commenced, under the direction of com- 
mittees of citizens in all the wards. Hundreds of barrels of 
liquor were rolled into the street, and the heads knocked in. 
The gutters ran with a liquor-freshet, and the fumes filled and 
impregnated the air. Fine cases of bottled liquors were tossed 
into the street from third-story windows, and wrecked into a 
thousand pieces. 

5. As the work progressed, some straggling soldiers, retreat- 
ing through the city, managed to get hold of a quantity of the 
liquor. From that moment, law and order ceased to exist. 
Many of the stores were pillaged; and the sidewalks were en- 
cumbered with broken glass, where the thieves had smashed the 
windows in their reckless haste to lay hands on the plunder 
within. The air was filled with wild cries of distress, or the 
yells of roving pillagers. 

6. But a more terrible element was to appear upon the scene. 
An order had been issued from General Ewell's headquarters, to 
fire the four principal tobacco warehouses of the city — namely, 
the public warehouse, situated at the head of the basin, near 
the Petersburg railroad depot ; Shockoe warehouse, situated 
near the centre of the city, side by side with the Gallego flour- 
mills ; Mayo's warehouse ; and Debrell's warehouse, on Gary- 
street, a square below Libby prison. 

7. Late in the night. Mayor Mayo had dispatched, by a com- 
mittee of citizens, a remonstrance against this reckless military 
order, which plainly put in jeopardy the whole business portion 
of Richmond. It was not heeded. Nothing was left for the 



isG 5.] The Nation. 371 

citizens but to submit to the destruction of their property. The 
warehouses were fired. The rams on the James River were 
blown up. The Eichmond, Virginia, and another one were all 
blown to the four winds of heaven. The Patrick Henry, a 
receiving-ship, was scuttled. Such shipping, very little in 
amount, as was lying at the Eichmond wharves, was also fired, 
save the flag-of-truce steamer Allison. The bridges leading out 
of the city were also fired, and were soon wrapped in flames. 

8. Morning broke upon a scene such as those* who wit- 
nessed it can never forget. The roar of an immense conflagra- 
tion sounded in their ears ; tongues of flame leaped from street 
to street; and in this baleful glare were to be seen, as of demons, 
the figures of busy plunderers, moving, pushing, rioting, through 
the black smoke, and into the open street, bearing away every 
conceivable sort of plunder. The scene at the commissary 
depot, at the head of the dock, beggared description. Hun- 
dreds of government wagons were loaded with bacon, flour, and 
whiskey, and driven off in hot haste to join the retreating 
army. 

9. Thronging about the depot were hundreds of men, women, 
and children, black and white, provided with capacious bags, 
baskets, tubs, buckets, tin pans, and aprons; cursing, pushing, 
and crowding; awaiting the throwing open of the doors, and 
the order for each to help himself. About sunrise, the doors 
were opened to the populace ; and a rush that almost seemed to ' 
carry the building off its foundation was made, and hundreds 
of thousands of pounds of bacon, flour, etc., were soon swept 
away by a clamorous crowd. 

Close of the War. — The surrender of Lee was soon followed by that 
of the other Confederate generals, and the great insurrection was at an end, 
having been crushed by a series of the most persevering and gigantic efforts ever 
put forth by any nation. Through all disasters and discouragements, the 
patriotic and high-minded president had resolutely striven to save the integrity 
of the country, and had won the esteem and affection of all by his conscientious 
devotion to this noble cause. 

Assassination of the President. — Having been re-elected president 
in the fall of 1 864, he had served but a few weeks of his second term, when, in 



372 The United States Reader. [is6i. 

less than one week after Lee's surrender, he was assassinated by^a desperado 
acting in sympathy with the Confederate cause (April 14). The intelligence of 
this sad event filled every loyal heart throughout the land with sorrow and iii-i- 
may, and for several weeks all the great cities throughout the North were draped 
in badges and emblems of mourning. The funeral cortege was followed by hun- 
dreds of thousands of the citizens of the republic, as it wended its way from the 
capital to Springfield, the former home of the deceased president, — thenceforth 
to be rendered sacred as his burial-place. 

United States Sanitary Commission. — Dr. Belloivs. 

[The efforts put forth by the North to sustain the Uuion cause in this great conflict 
were not confined to the Government or the army in tlie field. The patriotism and 
philanthropy of the people themselves, and particularly of the women, were splendidly 
illustrated by the organized measures taken to sustain the soldiers, by ministering, in the 
most efficient manner, to their necessities. Of these organizations, the Christian and 
Sanitary Commissions deserve particular mention. The latter, especially, was the most 
magnificent in its design and the most effective in its results. Foremost in the organization 
of this mighty engine of mercy, and taking the lead in its beneficent operations, was 
Rev. Henry W. Bellows, D.D., of New York City. Through his enlightened and large- 
hearted policy, and by his tact, judgment, and address, this powerful instrumentality 
was enabled to carry into effect its vast scheme of patriotism and humanity.] 

1. In" April, 18G1, at the very opening of the war, the women 
of New York city and the neighboring towns were organized 
into an association called "The Women's Central Association," 
to reduce to system and energy the scattered and almost frantic 
desires and efforts of the American women to aid in preparing 
soldiers for the exposures of the field. 

2. A committee went to Washington, as the representatives 
of this association, to confer with the Medical Bureau and the 
Government, upon the most efficient method of rendering this 
aid. They discovered such a want of largeness of view in the 
Medical Bureau, and so little preparation against the perils of 
sickness and wounds, that they were seized with the conviction 
that only a national movement, uniting the women of the 
whole country in a common organization, which should have 
the countenance and semi-official support or acceptance of the 
Government, with a freedom of its own not accorded to official 
bureaux, could meet the case. 

3. Mindful of what the Sanitary Commissions of England 
had done in the Crimea and in China, they resolved to attempt 
the same thing, although under totally different conditions. 
They proposed to the Government to appoint a Sanitary Com- 



The NdtioH, 373 



mission, to supplement the labors and duties of the Medical 
Bureau, and be the channel of the charity, nursing, and solici- 
tude of the people at home for the soldiers in the field. 

4. The idea met with little favor. It was resisted by the 
Medical Bureau, the War Department, and the Cabinet, as 
likely to breed jealousy, to introduce conflicting elements, to 
mix up irresponsible with official duties, and to be regarded as 
intrusive and offensive by the military authorities. But so 
great was the pressure of all sorts of local Societies of Relief, 
that the Government soon saw that its only choice was between 
one great nuisance, and a thousand small ones ; that possibly 
the Sanitary Commission might not be as bad as it looked, and 
that, in any case, while it was plainly dangerous to chill the 
people's enthusiasm by denying a regular vent to it, the Sani- 
tary Commission would probably show, in a six months' trial, 
how troublesome and useless it was, and then be got rid of 
without censure. 

5. By steady pressure, the committee persuaded the Govern- 
ment to accept their idea, and the Commission was authorized, 
and began existence, June 10th, 1861 — but only on condition 
that the committee would select their fellows-laborers in it, and 
take charge of the work. The Sanitary Commission was to 
have free access to the army, hospitals, and field; the right of 
sanitary inspection of camps, and the general duty of advising 
the Medical Bureau, and all army officers, in what pertained to 
the health and comfort of the soldiers. 

6. It organized with a board composed partly of civilians, 
medical men, and men of general experience, from various parts 
of the country, and partly of military men in the army. This 
Board opened its central office in apartments furnished by the 
Government at "Washington. It had from ten to twenty hired 
medical men, whom it employed as inspectors, or heads of de- 
tachments for the distribution of relief, who were placed with 
every army-corps on the whole field, from the beginning to the 
end of the war. These skilled nien had' each his force of assist- 
ants, his sanitary-tent, and his continually re-enforced supply 
of medicines, clothing, and soldiers' comforts. 



374 The United States Reader. 

7. Necessary teams were either owned by the Commission, or 
furnished by the Government; and from great sub-central 
depots at Louisville, New Orleans-, Washington, Frederick, 
and a dozen other places, they transported the supplies con- 
stantly accumulated there to the army. The railroads and 
the Quartermaster's department always did their best to 
forward sanitary stores. But it required a prodigious foresight 
to know just where they were likely to be most needed; and as 
the very business of the Commission was to be where the gov- 
ernment supplies might fail; to have ready what they lacked; 
to supplement their defects, or to guess better where battles 
and sickness would occur — little help could be derived from 
government information. 

8. The Commission had its own sources of intelligence, and 
its own outlook, and usually acted upon its own independent 
judgment, both as to the neighborhood where to be and as to 
the kind of relief it should supply. This field and relief work 
involved inspection of camps; opening of houses for stragglers 
and people turned prematurely from the army hospitals, to give 
out on their way to their regiments; relief in food and cloth- 
ing to men who had lost their knapsacks and their right to 
rations by the fortunes of war; and a continued visitation of all 
army hospitals, regimental or general. The Sanitary Commis- 
sion was the people's attorney, with its ears open to every just 
complaint, its hand open to every real want of the poor soldier. 
And it meant to be everywhere, where a single Union regiment 
was found, from Mason and Dixon's line to Florida and 
Texas. 

9. It followed up the army when it advanced, and allowed 
no corps to move without its deputies, fully provided with relief, 
medical and sanitary. An average of two thousand soldiers 
were every night in its houses — who w T ould have been tentless 
and homeless but for its extra providence. It had steamboats 
converted into floating hospitals, whereon the army lay near 
navigable streams. It brought home thousands of wounded in 
this manner from the James Eiver and the Pamunkey,under the 
tenderest care. It was on four-fifths of all the seven hundred 



The Nation. 375 



and odd battle-fields, or bloody skirmishes of the war, and often 
was on hand when the medical stores of the army were lost or 
inaccessible. It had its nurses and relief agents, wherever they 
were needed, and in precise proportion to the need. It accepted 
volunteers, but preferred hired agents, selected for merit and 
skill, and under rigid discipline. 

10. But whence came the money and stores to meet this 
tremendous outlay ? From the home organization of the Sani- 
tary Commission. It endeavored, and with almost perfect suc- 
cess, to bring all the States of the north into one fellowship of 
labor. Branches, like the original stock — the Women's Central 
Association of New York, which became a branch only, after 
the Sanitary Commission was started — were planted in all the 
loyal States, and over seven thousand local relief societies became 
tributaries to them. The fingers of all the homes in the north 
and west moved as with one motion, in preparing garments, 
food, and canned fruits ; the farmers sent forward potatoes and 
onions; the local societies forwarded them to the branches. 

11. These hundreds of boxes, containing the strangest collec- 
tion of articles, dry-goods and groceries, books and clothing, 
were overhauled, assorted, marked, repacked, and forwarded to 
Louisville or Washington, the western and eastern centres of 
supply. Held there, catalogued and re-assorted, they furnished 
a never-failing reservoir of nameless articles of clothing, food, 
and comforts — which, under the direction of the Secretary-in- 
chief (the admirable Frederick L. Olmsted, being the one 
who originally shaped the internal administration, which 
was never seriously changed), were sent out to the relief agents 
at their several stations, on or near the fields of coming battles. 

12. The constancy, method, order, and business-like skill, 
with which these branches and local societies were conducted, 
not only redound to the patriotism and ability of the American 
people, but went far to develop unknown powers of usefulness, 
self-reliance, and administrative talent in thousands of women, 
and thus enriched the nation in all the departments of life. 
Nothing in the way of public reforms ever did as much to 
teach woman her rights and duties^ her dignity, and her 



376 The United States Reader. [isg7. 

capacity for the public service, as the Sanitary Commission. 
It was the spiritual birthplace to hundreds of women, who 
knew themselves and their dignity and duty in life from the 
awakening produced, and the opportunity afforded, by that 
service. 

13. The money necessary to support this expensive arm of 
the public service, — the woman's arm, stretched out full of pity 
and help to the soldier in the field — her husband, brother, son — 
was supplied by the people, through great fairs, in Philadelphia, 
New York, Brooklyn, Boston, Chicago, and elsewhere ; and 
through the spontaneous gifts of the people, who in all ways 
poured about live millions of dollars into the treasury of the 
( ommission. Nearly a million and a half of this sum was the 
magnificent offering of the Pacific coast, and especially of Cali- 
fornia. To this, fifteen million dollars' worth of stores of all 
kinds, by a moderate estimate, entrusted to the Sanitary Com- 
mission, must be added. The Government probably furnished 
it in steamers, transportation, rent, rations, and facilities, five 
millions' worth more; so that twenty-live million dollars would 
not exceed the amount of which the Sanitary Commission 
were the trusted almoners in the war. 

Johnson?s Administration. — Andrew Joiixsox of Tennessee, the 
vice-president, succeeded Abraham Lincoln, being inaugurated on the 15th of 
April. He retained, without change, the cabinet of his predecessor. The as- 
sassin of the lamented president eluded pursuit until the 2Gth, when, having been 
trucked to his hiding-place ami refusing to surrender, he was shot. Jefferson 
Davis, after abandoning Richmond, fled to Georgia, where he was captured. 
He was then conveyed a prisoner to Fortress Monroe ; but, after a long confine- 
ment, was released (1867). 

Amnesty.— Abolition of Slavery, — On the 29th of April, Presi- 
dent Johnson issued a proclamation removing restrictions on commerce in the 
South ; and, a month later, he addressed a proclamation of amnesty to all 
those who had been concerned in the war against the Union, excepting certain 
specified classes of persons. A resolution of Congress, proposing an amend- 
ment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery, having been approved by three- 
fourths of the States, slavery was declared constitutionally abolished on the 
18th of December. 

Reconstruction. — A Reconstruction Act was passed by Congress, not- 
withstanding the veto of the President, March 2d, 18G7, and two Supplementary 
Reconstruction Acts were also passed, in like manner. Under these acts, the 



i sir i.i The Nation. 377 

states recently at war with the general government were, one after another, 
restored to their original positions in the Union. 

New State and Territory. — During the year 1867, Nebraska* was 
admitted into the Union, and the territorial possessions of the United States 
were very much enlarged by the addition of Alas'ka, formerly known as Rus- 
sian America. This vast tract of land was purchased of Russia, the price paid 
being $7,200,000, in gold. 

Impeachment of the President. — The President having removed 
Edwin M. Stanton from his position as Secretary of War, without the consent 
of the Senate, that body passed a resolution notifying the president " that, under 
the Constitution and laws of the United States, he had no power to remove the 
Secretary of War and designate any other officer to perform the duties of that 
office." On the 24th of February, a resolution impeaching the president was 
adopted by the House of Representatives, and articles of impeachment were 
subsequently presented to the Senate. The trial was long and tedious, and 
resulted in the acquittal of the accused, although only one vote was wanting 
to complete the two-thirds majority required to convict him. 

Amendment to the Constitution. — The Fourteenth Amendment, 
which had been proposed by Congress, guaranteeing equal civil rights to all 
persons, born or naturalized in the United States, was declared adopted on the 
28th of July, 1868, having been ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of 
all the States. 

Grant's Administration. — Ulysses S. Grant, of Illinois, having 
been duly elected, was inaugurated as president on the 4'th of March, 1869. 
Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana, became, at the same time, vice-president. Virginia, 
Mississippi, and Texas, not having complied with the " reconstruction " require- 
ments of Congress, did not participate in the presidential election. 

Reconstruction Completed. — During the first year, however, of the 
administration, these three States, having finally complied with the requirements 
of Congress, were restored to all their rights as States, and the " Reconstruction 
of the Union''" was thus fully consummated. 

Amendment to the Constitution.— The Fifteenth Amendment to 
the Constitution, guaranteeing to all. citizens of tire United States the right of 
suffrage, without regard to " race, color, or previous condition of servitude," 
was declared adopted, March 30, 1870. 

Chicago Fire. — In October of the following year (1871), the most de- 
structive fire in the history of this country occurred at Chicago. About eighteen 
thousand buildings were destroyed, and over one hundred thousand persons 
were, in consequence, rendered homeless and destitute. Within ten days after 
the conflagration, more than five million dollars were subscribed, in this country 
and Europe, for the relief of the sufferers. 

* The word is of Indian origin, ne, signifying water, and braslsa, wide or shallow ; and, heing 
at first applied to the Platte River (which runs through the State), was afterward used as the name of 
the territory, and subsequently of the state. 



378 The United States Reader. 

Chicago.— Whittier. 

Men said at vespers : " All is well ! " 

In one wild night the city fell ; 

Fell shrines of prayer and marts of gain 

Before the fiery hurricane. 

On threescore spires had sunset shone, 

Where ghastly sunrise looked on none. 

Men clasped each others' hands, and said, 

" The City of the West is dead ! " 

Brave hearts who fought, in slow retreat, 

The fiends of fire from street to street, 

Turned powerless to the blinding glare, 

The dumb defiance of despair. 

A sudden impulse thrilled each wire 

That signalled round that sea of fire ; 

Swift words of cheer, warm heart-throbs came; 

In tears of pity died the flame. 

From East, from West, from South and North, 

The messages of hope shot forth, 

And underneath the severing wave 

The world, full-handed, reached to save. 

Fair seemed the old, but fairer still 

The new, the dreary void shall fill 

With dearer homes than those o'erthrown, 

For love shall lay each corner-stone. 

Rise, stricken city ! From thee throw 
The ashen sackcloths of thy woe ; 
And build, as to Amphion's strain, 
To songs of cheer, thy walls again 1 
How shrivelled in thy hot distress 
The primal sin of selfishness ! 
How instant rose, to take thy part, 
The angel in the human heart ! 

Ah ! not in vain the flames that tossed 

Above thy dreadful holocaust 7 ; 

The Christ again has preached through theft 

The Gospel of humanity ! 

Then lift once more thy tow 7 ers on high, 

And fret with spires the western sky, 

To tell that God is yet with us, 

And love is still miraculous ! 



The Nation. 379 



The Future of the Republic. — Story. 

1. When we reflect on what has been, and is, how is it pos- 
sible not to feel a profound sense of the responsibilities of this 
Eepnblic to all future ages ? What vast motives press upon us 
for lofty efforts ! What brilliant prospects invite our enthu- 
siasm ! What solemn warnings at once demand our vigilance, 
and moderate our confidence ! 

2. The Old World has already revealed to us, in its unsealed 
books, the beginning and end of all its own marvellous 
struggles in the cause of liberty. Greece, lovely Greece, "the 
land of scholars and the nurse of arts," where sister republics, 
in fair processions, chanted the praises of liberty and the gods — 
where, and what is she ? For two thousand years the oppres- 
sor has bound her to the earth. Her arts are no more. The 
last sad relics of her temple are but the barracks of a ruthless 
soldiery : the fragments of her columns and her palaces are in 
the dust, yet beautiful in ruin 

3. Where are the republics of modern times, which clustered 
around immortal Italy ? Venice and Genoa exist but in name. 
The Alps, indeed, look down upon the brave and peaceful 
Swiss in their native fastnesses; but the guaranty of their 
freedom is in their weakness, and not in their strength. The 
mountains are not easily crossed, and the valleys are not easily 
retained. The country is too poor for plunder, and too rough 
for valuable conquest 

4. We stand, the latest, and, if we fail, probably the last, ex- 
periment of self-government by the people. We have begun it 
under circumstances of the most auspicious nature. We are in 
the vigor of youth. Our growth has never been checked by the 
oppressions of tyranny. Our constitutions have never been 
enfeebled by the vices or luxuries of the Old World. Such as 
we are, we have been from the beginning — simple, hardy, intel- 
ligent, accustomed to self-government and self-respect. 

5. The Atlantic rolls between us and any formidable foe. 
Within our own territory, stretching through many degrees of 
latitude and longitude, we have the choice of many products, 



380 The United States Reader. 

and many means of independence. The government is mild. 
The Press is free. Keligion is free. Knowledge reaches, or 
may reach, every home. What fairer prospect of success could 
be presented? What means more adequate to accomplish the 
sublime end? What more is necessary, than for the people to 
preserve what they themselves have created ? 

6. Already has the age caught the spirit of our institutions. 
It has already ascended the Andes, and snuffed the breezes of 
both oceans. It has infused itself into the life-blood of Europe, 
and w T armed the sunny plains of France, and the lowlands of 
Holland. It has touched the philosophy of Germany and the 
north, and, moving onward to the south, has opened to Greece 
the lessons of her better days. 

7. Can it be that America, under such circumstances, can 
betray herself; that she is to be added to the catalogue of repub- 
lics, the inscription of whose ruin is, " They were, but they are 
not ? " Forbid it, my countrymen ; forbid it, Heaven ! I call 
upon you, Fathers, by the shades of your ancestors, by the dear 
ashes which repose in this precious soil, by all you are, and all 
you hope to be, — resist every project of disunion : resist every 
encroachment upon your liberties : resist every attempt to fetter 
your consciences, or smother your public schools, or extinguish 
your system of public instruction. 

8. I call upon you, Mothers, by that which never fails in 
woman — the love of your offspring, — teach them, as they climD* 
your knees, or lean on your bosoms, the blessings of liberty. 
Swear them at the altar, as with their baptismal vows, to 
be true to their country, and never to forget or to forsake her. 
I call upon you, Young Men, to remember whose sons you are, 
— whose inheritance you possess. Life can never be too short, 
which brings nothing but disgrace and oppression. Death 
never comes too soon, if necessary in the defense of the liberties 
of your country. I call upon you, Old Men, for your counsels, 
and your prayers, and your benedictions. May not your gray 
bail's go down in sorrow to the grave, with the recollection 
that you have lived in vain. May not your last sun sink in 
the west upon a nation of slaves. — Centennial Address. 



The A T atio7i. 



Territorial Growth of the United States. 

1. Original Territory, — The territory of the Republic, at the close 
of the War of the Revolution, was bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the 
Mississippi River, the Great Lakes, and the Gulf of Mexico. Such were 
the limits conceded by the treaty with Great Britain (September 3d, 1783); 
bat from the region lying within them, the Spanish province of Florida 
must be excluded, as well as that part of the present State of Louisiana 
which lies east of the Mississippi, in defining the original domain of the 
United States. Out of that domain many new States have been formed, 
and to it large accessions of new territory have been made. 

2. Vermont. — This was the first of the new States. It was formed 
from territory which had been claimed by New York and New Hamp- 
shire, the former founding its claim on the grants made by Charles II. to 
the Duke of York ; the latter, on the colonial charter which it received 
at the commencement of its existence. New Hampshire was the most 
active in the settlement of the territory, her governor, during a period of 
eight years (from 1760 to 1768), having made more than a hundred township 
grants within its limits. These were subsequently known as the " New 
Hampshire Grants." Before the Revolution, however, N.ew York suc- 
ceeded in obtaining jurisdiction over the whole territory, through a decision 
of the king, to which the governor of New Hampshire assented. But 
the settlers refused to acknowledge the sway under which they were thus 
arbitrarily placed, and continued their resistance until 1791 ; when, New 
York having relinquished her claim on the payment to her of $30,000, 
Vermont was admitted into the Union, making the number of States four- 
teen. 

3. The Northwest Territory.— -The western portion of several 
of the thirteen original States extended to the Mississippi River ; their 
colonial charters, indeed, named the Atlantic Ocean as their eastern 
boundary, and the South Sea [the Pacific] as their western ; but their 
limits were restricted by the Treaty of 1783. One after another, these 
States surrendered their western territories to the general government ; 
and, in 1787, the region north of the Ohio River was organized under the 
name of the Northwest Territory. From this territory five States have 
been successively formed : Ohio, in 1802 ; Indiana, in 1816 ; Illinois, in 
1818 ; Michigan, in 1837 ; and Wisconsin, in 1848. 

4. The Southwest Territory.-^The region south of the Ohio, 
although never organized under one territorial government, was gener- 
ally known as the Southwest Territory. From it have been formed four 
States : Kentucky (previously a part of Virginia), in 1792 ; Tennessee 
(previously a part of North Carolina), in 1796 ; Mississippi, in 1817 ; and 
Alabama, in 1819 (both the latter being previously a part of Georgia), 



382 The United States Reader. 

5. Maine, — Maine, in 1783, was a district of Massachusetts, having 
been purchased in 1677, from the heirs of Gorges and Mason. Thus it 
remained till 1820, when it was organized and admitted as a State, in 
conformity with the formally expressed will of its inhabitants. 

6. The Louisiana Purchase.— Though the Spaniards, under 
De Soto, were the first to discover the Mississippi River, they made no 
attempts to explore it. This was first accomplished by the French, who 
traversed its entire length, and occupied certain portions of its valley on 
both sides, giving to the whole region the name of Louisiana, in honor 
of their King, Louis XIV. At the close of the French and Indian War 
(170:3), France ceded to Great Britain all her American possessions east 
of the Mississippi and north of the Iberville River, having in the preced- 
ing year ceded to Spain all her possessions west of the Mississippi and 
south of the Iberville. The latter territory was retroceded to France in 
1800 ; and three years later (1803), was purchased bj r the United States 
for $15,000,000. From this vast region, which extended from the Mis- 
sissippi River to the Rocky Mountains, besides the State of Louisiana 
(admitted in 1812), have been formed Missouri (1821), Arkansas (1836), 
Iowa (1846), Minnesota (1858), Kansas (1861), Nebraska (1867), and the ter- 
ritories of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and Dakota, together with a 
reservation for the Indians, known as the Indian Territory. 

7. Florida. — This was a Spanish province up to 1763, when it was 
ceded to Great Britain in exchange for Cuba, which the English had 
recently taken from Spain. By the treaty of 1783, the province was 
given back to Spain, to which it continued to belong till 1819, when it 
was ceded to the United States, on condition that the latter country 
would pay the claims of American citizens against Spain, to the amount 
of $5,000,000. Owing, however, to a delay on the part of Spain to ratify 
the treaty, the title to the territory was not acquired by the United States 
till 1821. 

8. Oregon. — The entire region west of the Rocky Mountains, extend- 
ing from latitude 42° to about 54°, was long known as Oregon* It was 
claimed by the United States, because, among other reasons, its principal 
river had been discovered by Captain Gray, of the ship Columbia, of Bos- 
ton, in 1792 ; and because, during the administration of Jefferson, it was 
explored by Captains Lewis and Clark, who commanded au overland 
expedition sent out by the United States Government. If, previous to 
1819, Spain had possessed any title to this region, she abandoned it in 
that year ; since, by a clause in the treaty ceding Florida, she relinquished 
all her "rights, claims, and pretensions" to such territory. 

0. Great Britain also claimed Oregon until 1846, when, by treaty, the 

* A writer of note says that the name Oreyon was probably invented by Captain Carver, who 
made an early exploration of the region. Another writer gives it as his opinion that the name was 
derived from the Spanish oreqano, wild sage, which giows iu great abuudauce oa tue Pacific coast. 



The Nation. 383 



boundary-line between the possessions of the two nations was fixed at the 
49th parallel, thus settling a controversy which had lasted several years, 
and which, at one time, threatened to produce a war between the two 
countries. The region thus finally yielded to the United States, w r as first 
organized as a territory, under the name of Oregon (admitted in 1859) ; 
but now includes the State of Oregon, and the Territories of Washington 
and Idaho. 

10. Texas, — This State was once a part of the Republic of Mexico ; 
but, becoming dissatisfied with the Mexican rulers, the people revolted, 
and, in 1836, set up an independent government. In 1845, Texas was an- 
nexed to the United States. 

11. California. — The war with Mexico gave to the United States 
a vast region between Texas and the Pacific Ocean, which had previously 
belonged to the Mexican Republic. The conquest of this region having 
been effected during the war, its possession was confirmed by the treaty 
of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, made in 1848, as well as by a subsequent treaty, 
known as the " Gadsden Treaty," made in 1853. By the terms of the 
first treaty, the United States agreed to pay to Mexico $15,000,000, and to 
assume debts due from her to x\merican citizens to the amount of $3,000,- 
000. By the terms of the second treaty, the Uuited States paid an addi- 
tional sum of $10,000,000, in order to secure a more southerly boundary. 
From the region thus acquired from Mexico have been formed the States 
of California (1850) and Nevada (1864), and the Territories of New Mexico, 
Arizona, and Utah. 

12. Alaska.— The Territory of Alaska, formerly known as Russian 
^America, w T as ceded to the United States, by Russia, in 1867, for $7,200,- 

000. The name of Alaska having been given to it in the treaty, it has since 
retained it. 

13. Thus has the national domain increased from time to time, spread- 
ing from one ocean to the other, and gradually enfolding within it's em- 
brace every district of country that lay as an obstacle to the mighty 
march of its destiny. That "league of love" which first only clasped 
within its folds an empire of thirteen sister States, with an area of 800, 000 
square miles, has been found sufficiently expansive to permit the em- 
brace of a vast realm of thirty-seven States, and ten Territories ; including 
altogether an area of more than 3,000,000 square miles. 

" O God ! look down upon the land which thou hast loved so well, 
And grant that in unbroken truth her children still ma}*- dwell ; 
Nor while the grass grows on the hill, and streams flow through the 

vale, 
May they forget their fathers' faith, or in their covenant fail ! 
God keep the fairest, noblest land that lies beneath the sun — 
Our country, our whole country, and our country ever one ! " 
17 



$84 The United States Reader. 



Civil Progress of the Nation. 

1. Population.— The first Census,— that of 1790,— showed a total 
population in the thirteen States, and the territory on each side of the 
Ohio River, of less than four millions (3,921,326). In the Northwest Terri- 
tory the population was so small that no return was made ; in the territory 
south of the Ohio, the number of inhabitants was about 37,000. The 
city of Philadelphia, then the largest city of the Union, contained only a 
population of 43,525, that of New York being more than 10,000 less (33,- 
131) ; Cincinnati, settled in 1788, was but a small hamlet (in 1805 its popula- 
tion was only 500) ; Boston contained only about 18,000 inhabitants ; and 
New Orleans, then a French settlement, less than 8,000. The great west- 
ern cities of the present day were scarcely dreamed of. 

2. The population of the Union, as shown by the Census of 1870, 
is nearly forty millions (38,617,949). There are fourteen cities, the popu- 
lation of each of which exceeds 100,000, and seven in which the popula- 
tion is in excess of 250,000. The Metropolis contains nearly one million 
of inhabitants, having grown, during our national existence, to that 
astonishing figure, from the small number mentioned above ; while 
Cincinnati has grown from 500, in 1805, to more than 216,000. Chicago, 
which, in 1831, contained only about a dozen families, before the great fire 
of 1871 had a population of 298,000. St. Louis, a small trading-village in 
1803, when it came under the United States Government, now contains 
about 313,000 people, and is the fourth city of the Union, being exceeded 
only by New York, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn. 

3. Commerce. — The commercial progress of the country has kept 
pace with the vast increase in its population, and the amazing growth of 
its cities. In 1790, the total exports from all the ports of the United 
States amounted to about twenty millions of dollars, and the imports 
somewhat less ; in 1870, the amount of exports was over five hundred 
millions; and the imports amounted to about six millions more than the 
exports. About two-thirds of all the imports of the United States arrive 
in New York, and about forty per cent, of all the exports are shipped 
from that port. 

4. The tonnage of the United States has increased from 274,377, in 
1790, to 4,253,149, in 1870; while the number of American vessels (re- 
gistered or enrolled) has increased during the same period to 29,015, of 
which about 3,500 were steam-vessels. This is considerably less than the 
number reported previous to the Civil War, the total tonnage in 1862-3 
being more than 5,000,000. The vast increase in population on the 
borders of the Great Lakes, and along the great navigable rivers, has led to 
the establishment of an inland and domestic trade, of greater proportions 



The Nation. 385 



than the foreign commerce immense as that is. The chief items of this 
trade are coal and lumber; but the cereals also constitute a considerable 
part. 

. 5. Manufactures. — During the Colonial period, the manufacturing 
industry of the American people was repressed by penal statutes, the 
selfish policy of the British government dictating agricultural pursuits for 
the purpose of benefiting the commerce of the mother-country. Hence, 
a free market was opened to nil the agricultural products, including the 
raw materials of manufacture ; and sometimes bounties were offered to 
stimulate still further their production. This policy was peculiarly fitted 
to increase the prosperity of the Southern Colonies, while those of the 
North were scarcely able to subsist. 

0. When, therefore, the nation commenced its existence, the manufac- 
turing interests were of very little importance ; indeed, they had scarcely 
commenced to be developed. Before the war of 1812, nothing was ac- 
complished on a great scale in this direction ; the embargo, however, 
gave a great stimulus to this interest. Since that period, an amazing ex- 
pansion has been reached in every department of manufactures, but 
especially in those of cottons, woollens, and irou, — the three great 
staples, in the first of which this country is now exceeded by Great 
Britain alone. The principal seats of this manufacture are in Massachu- 
setts, Rhode Island, Penns}'lvania, Connecticut, and New York. 

7. The general use of furnaces, stoves, etc., for heating purposes, the 
innumerable applications of machinery, as a substitute for human labor, 
and for the propulsion of land-carriages, as well as for the purposes of 
navigation, render the iron manufacture of great importance in this 
country ; and, accordingly, it has developed into vast proportions. Its 
kindred department, mining — particularly of coal and iron — has, of 
course, kept equal pace with it, 

8. Ship-building.— The first vessel built in New England was 
built in Med ford, Massachusetts, for Governor Winthrop. She was 
launched on the fourth of July, 1631, and was called the " Blessing of the 
Bay," — a name which indicated, in anticipation, the great benefits which 
that section of our country was to experience from this department of 
industry^ Up to the commencement of the Civil War (1801) this branch 
of labor was among the most flourishing in the country ; but the opera- 
tions of Confederate cruisers, aided, as they were, by British influence and 
support, had the effect to paralyze this, as well as every other branch of 
industry dependent upon navigation. 

9. Printing and Book-publishing .—Under our system of free 
government and free schools, the various pursuits connected with the 
printing and publication of newspapers, books, etc., have reached a con- 
dition of great activity and extent. The wide-spread demand for informa- 



386 The United States Reader. 

tioii bus stimulated the application of science and art to this branch of 
industry to the highest degree. The processes in use for the purpose a 
century ago would be, at the present time, comparatively valueless. One 
of the earliest inventions for improving the old printing-press was the 
Columbian press, invented by George Clymer of Philadelphia, in 1818 ; 
and, more recently, the powerful cylinder presses constructed by Richard 
M. Hoe, of New York, have rendered it possible to keep pace with the 
daily demand for newspapers and books. By the cylinder press worked 
by steam, in connection with the stereotype process, as many as 40,000 
impressions of a newspaper can be taken in an hour. 

10. Agriculture. — This, the leading pursuit of our country during 
its entire history, has made vast and rapid strides, both in processes and 
results, since the commencement of our national union. The great de- 
mand for labor has furnished very strong inducements for the invention 
and use of labor-saving machinery and implements, and the ingenuity 
of the American people has been strikingly illustrated by its innume- 
rable achievements in this direction. Of these, the cultivator, the mow- 
ing machine, the reaper, the horse rake, the threshing machine, etc., are 
examples. Steam has been applied to the working of many of these 
implements ; and, in this way, the work of one man is often made more 
effective than that of a hundred a century ago. 

11. In the northern sections of the country, the chief staples are the 
cereal grains, maize, wheat, rye, oats, barley, etc., together with potatoes 
and hay ; in the South, cotton, rice, sugar, and tobacco take the lead. 
The increase in the production of these various articles since the forma- 
tion of our government has been amazing. In 1790, the cotton raised 
amounted to less than 250,000 pounds; while in 1860, just previous to 
the great Civil War, the quantity cultivated reached the extraordinary 
amount of more than 2,000,000,000 pounds, or nearly 4,000,000 of bales. 
In 1870, the crop amounted to a little over one billion and three quarters 
of pounds (1,767,000,000 lbs.). Mississippi occupies the first place as a 
cotton-growing State. 

12. Canals. — In 1827, Edward Everett thus spoke of the internal 
improvements of that period : " A system of internal improvements has 
been commenced, which will have the effect, when a little further de- 
veloped, of crowding within a few years the progress of generations. 
Already, Lake Champlain from the north and Lake Erie from the west 
have been connected with Albany. The Delaware and Chesapeake Bays 
have been united. A canal is nearly finished in the upper part of New 
Jersey, from the Delaware to the Hudson, by which coal is already dis- 
patched to our market. Another route is laid out, across the same State, 
to connect New York by a railroad with Philadelphia. A water com- 
munication has been opened, by canals, half way from Philadelphia to 



The Nation. 387 



Pittsburg. Considerable progress is made, both on the railroad and the 
canal, which are to unite Baltimore and Washington with the Ohio 
River. A canal of sixty miles in length is open, from Cincinnati to 
Dayton, in the State of Ohio; and another, of more than three hundred 
miles in extent, to connect Lake Erie with the Ohio, is two-thirds com- 
pleted." 

13. The various enterprises here alluded to have all been completed. 
The Grand Erie Canal, in the State of New York, was opened in 1824 
but not entirely completed till 1825. This magnificent public improve- 
ment owed its success to the genius of De Witt Clinton * and contributed 
in a veiy great degree to make New York city what it is at present— the 
great emporium of the country. It is 363 miles in length, and was first 
estimated to cost $5,000,000. Since its completion, in 1825, it has been 
considerably enlarged. The total length of canals in the United States, 
in 1854, was nearly 5.000 miles ; but since that period few undertakings 
of this kind, of any magnitude, have been commenced, their use as a 
means of communication having been superseded by the construction of 
railroads. Extensive river improvements have also been accomplished 
in many parts of the country. 

14. Hail roads. — The first great internal improyement in this 
country was the Philadelphia and Pittsburg Turnpike, which was 
completed near the close of the last century. The Cumberland Road, 
subsequently called the Great National Road, had its origin in an appro- 
priation of $30,000 by Congress, in 1806, for the construction of a road 
over the Alleghany mountains, from Cumberland, in Maryland, to the 
Ohio River. Other appropriations. for the construction of this road were 
made from time to time ; and in 1820 it had been completed to Wheeling, 
at an expense of $1,700,000. Subsequently it was extended to Spring- 
field, Ohio, and partially undertaken in Indiana and Illinois ; but being 
superseded by railwa} r s, it was never completed to the extent at one time 
contemplated. 

15. The first railroads constructed in the United States were the Quincy 
Railroad, used to transport granite- from the quarries of Quincy, Massa- 
chusetts (1826), and the Mauch Chunk Railroad, for the conveyance of 
coal from the mines at that place to the Lehigh River in Pennsylvania 
(1827). The rapid construction of railroads in every part of the country 
since that time presents a very striking evidence of the activity and 
enterprise of the people, and the civil progress of the nation. 

16. In 1848, the number of miles of completed railways amounted to 
6,000 ; in 1860, this had increased to nearly 31,000, the construction and 

* De Witt Clinton was born in March, 1769, and was the son of Genera) James Clinton, of Orange 
County, New York. He was mayor of the city of New York ten years ; and was elected governor of 
the State in 1817, and again in 1820 and 1826. His death occurred in February, 1828. 



388 The United States Reader. 

equipment of which cost more than one billion of dollars ($1,151,560,289). 
In 1870, it had further increased to more than 53,000. 

Of all the enterprises of this character, the Pacific Railroad is the most 
stupendous. This road extends from Omaha in Nebraska to San Fran- 
Cisco, and connects with the great lines from the east, bringing- the great 
eastern cities within a week's journey from San Francisco. It is 1,913 
miles long between the two points above mentioned. This great under- 
taking was completed in 1869. Other railroads are also in contemplation 
across the western part of the country to the Pacific Ocean. The North- 
ern Pacific, already commenced, has its eastern terminus at Lake 
Superior (Duluth) and its western at Puget's Sound, in Washington 
Territory. 

17. Thus are the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans bound together b}' an 
iron band, by means of which, in connection with the Trans-Pacific lines 
of steamships, China, India, and Japan are brought within a few weeks' 
travel of the great American marts, and the rich products of those 
realms are poured into them in boundless profusion. New sources of 
enterprise and wealth are also developed in our own country by the 
same means, and additional incentives offered for settlement in the 
wild and uncultivated, but richly endowed, regions of our widely-ex- 
tended domain. 

18.. Tclegrajrfis. — The demand for the rapid communication of in- 
telligence was by no means supplied by the locomotive and railroad ; 
and the agency of electricity has been brought in to supplement the 
deficiencies of steam. The invention of the electro-magnetic telegraph is 
due to Prof. Morse, who, in 1844, erected the first line, between Baltimore 
and "Washington, a distance of forty miles. This line was extended 
northward, through Philadelphia and New York, to Boston, in 1845. 
From this comparativel}" small beginning a vast system of telegraphic 
lines has been constructed, by means of which all the great centres of 
trade and population in the world have been brought into instantaneous 
communication. In 1850, the length of telegraph lines in the United 
States was 28,281 miles; in 1854, it had increased to 41,392 miles ; and in 
1858, to more than 50,000 miles. At the present time it cannot be less 
than 100,000 miles. 

19. Atlantic Telegraph.— The first successful submarine telegraph 
was laid in 1851, across Dover Strait, connecting Dover and Calais. 
Three unsuccessful attempts to establish a telegraphic cable across the 
Atlantic Ocean were made in 1857, 1858, and 1865. In the first and last 
of these, the cable parted and was partially lost ; in the second, it was 
laid, but almost immediately failed to convej r signals. A fourth attempt, 
in 1866, proved entirely successful. The success of this gigantic enter- 
prise, persisted in under so many discouragements, was largely due to the 



The Nation, 389 



untiring energy of Cyrus W. Field. The successful cable of 1866 was 
made in England, and laid by the Great Eastern, the largest steam-vessel 
ever constructed. She was built in London, and made her first trip in 
1859. The Atlantic cable is about 2,600 miles long, and contains no less 
than 25,000 miles of copper-wire in the conductor, 35,000 miles of iron 
wire in the. outside covering, and upward of 400,000 miles of strands of 
hemp ; more than enough in all to go twenty-four times round the world. 
Its strength is sufficient to bear a strain of nearly twenty-eight tons. 

20. Education. — The establishment of Common Schools, in which 
all classes could be educated, has been a distinguishing feature in the 
civil progress of the countiy. Several of the States have inserted in their 
Constitutions articles requiring the maintenance of public schools. In 
New England, the principle has been ever avowed and sustained, that it 
is the right and duty of government to provide the means for the instruc- 

. tion of the youth of all classes of society in the elements of learning. 
Other States have adopted this principle. In Massachusetts, by statute 
enacted in 1647, " each town, consisting of fifty householders, was directed 
to maintain a school to teach their children to read and write, and every 
town of one hundred families was to maintain a grammar-school to fit 
youth for college." In the enrly history of Connecticut, similar laws 
were passed. 

21. It has been uniformly a part of the land system of the United 
States to provide for public schools. In th2 organization of territories 
and the admission of States, the condition has often been imposed, that 
a part of each township should be permanently applied for the use or 
support of such schools. In nearly all the States there is a large fund 
devoted to the support of common schools, under provisions of State law. 
The special instruction of teachers has become a prominent feature in the 
educational systems of most of the States. Several of the States have a 
Normal School fund. In most of the Slave-States, popular education was 
greatly neglected; but since the close of the Civil War, strenuous efforts 
have been made in many of* the southern States to provide the means of 
educating all classes, including the children of the freedmen. The High 
Schools and Colleges of the country have also attained a high rank for 
scholarship and efficiency of education. 

22. Literature. — During the colonial period, America gained no 
prominence in any department of literary effort, except, perhaps, that of 
theology, religiousTlisputation almost absorbing the intellectual energies of 
the age. Jonathan Edwards, by the publication of his masterly "Trea- 
tise on the Will,'' at once secured for himself the respectful attention of 
thinkers in the mother country; several of his sermons were republished 
in England. This distinguished man died in 1786. Since that time 
American literature has, been enriched by many works of genius in al- 



390 The United States Reader. 

most every department. In oratory, no nation can claim to Lave sur- 
passed the United States ; and the speeches of Webster, Clay, and Everett 
will ever remain as monuments of the literary culture, as well as clear- 
ness and power of reasoning, of those distinguished men. These are but 
the bright stars in a cluster of very brilliant names, 

23. living's writings were the first to make American literature pop- 
ular abroad ; their genial spirit, inimitable humor, and elegant style 
attracting all classes of readers. In history, independently of what has 
been done to illustrate specially the annals of every part of our own 
country by a host of worthy writers, the works of Bancroft, Hildreth, 
Prescott, and Motley have given our literature a high rank. In fiction, 
Cooper won for himself by his " Leather-stocking Tales," a very decided 
pre-eminence; but Hawthorne, as a literary artist, is doubtless decidedly 
superior. Paulding, Simms, Kennedy, Neal, Brown, and Poe, occupy 
conspicuous places in this field of literary effort. 

24. The effusions of American poets have deservedly obtained very 
high commendation and favor. These writers are a legion in number; 
and in this brief sketch, even a partial (numeration is impossible. Hal- 
leek, Willis, Longfellow, Whittier, Bryant, have, however, won for them- 
selves a conspicuous place in the popular esteem. James R Lowell and 
Oliver W. Holmes, as humorous poets, have also attained a wide reputa- 
tion. The two most prolific branches of American literature are educa- 
tional works and journalism, in both of which the country has attained a 
rank which, without doubt, will compare favorably with that of any 
other nation. 



Chronological Table. 391 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



English. 

— Discoveries and Explorations. 

g 1492. The "West Indies were discovered by Columbus. 
{^1497. North America was discovered by the Cabots. 
c 1498. Coast of North America explored by Sebastian Cabot. 
{Ij South America was discovered by Columbus. 

1499. South America was visited by Amerigo Vespucci. 

1512. Florida was discovered by Ponce de Leon. 

1513. The Pacific Ocean was discovered by Balboa. 
E 1517. Yucatan was discovered by Cordova. 

£ 1520. The coast of Carolina was visited by De Ayllon. 
>J.521. Mexico was couquered by Cortez. 
a 1524. Coast of North America explored by Yerrazzani. 
JlJ 1528. Florida was explored by Narvaez. 

1534. The St. Lawrence was discovered by Cartier. 

1541. The Mississippi was discovered by De Soto. 

— Colonial History. 

1562. The Huguenots attempted to colonize Carolina. 
. 1564. The second Huguenot colony was begun in Florida. 
+j 1565. Florida was settled at St. Augustine, by Spaniards, 
'rt 1579. West coast of North America explored by Drake. 
;2 1584. The Carolina coast explored by Raleigh's expedition. 
W 1585-7. Raleigh made two attempts to colonize Carolina. 
1602. The Massachusetts coast was explored by Gosnold. 

1606. The London and Plymouth Companies received charters. 

1607. The London Company planted a colony at Jamestown. 
.1609. The Hudson River was discovered by Hudson. 

M 1614. The New England coast was explored by Smith. 

g New York was settled by the Dutch. 

,* 1619. Negro slavery was introduced into Virginia. 

1620. Plymouth was settled. 

1623. New Hampshire was settled. 

17* 



Chronological Table. 



English. 

M - 1630. Boston was settled by the Massachusetts Bay colony, 
g 1633. Connecticut was settled at Windsor. 
*S 1634. Maryland was settled at St. Mary's. 
A 1635. Sa} r brook (2d colony in Connecticut) was settled. 
1636. Providence (1st colony in Rhode Island) was settled. 
1638. The Swedish colony in Delaware was established. 
New Haven (3d colony in Connecticut) was settled. 

1643. Four New England colonies formed a Union. 

§ 1650. North Carolina was settled on the Chowan. 
||1651. Parliament passed the " Navigation Act." 
» *1655. New Sweden (Delaware) conquered by the Dutch. 
*3_1656. The " Persecution of Quakers " in Massachusetts. 

1663. The grant of Carolina was made to Clarendon and others, 

1664. New York was taken by the English from the Dutch. 
New Jersey was settled at Elizabeth. 

E 1665. The Connecticut colonies united under one charter. 
JE 1670. South Carolina was settled on the Ashley. 
« 1673. Virginia was ceded to Culpepper and Arlington. 
q 1675. King Philip's War in New England. 

1682. Pennsylvania (at Philadelphia) was settled. 
— Delaware was granted by the Duke of York to Penn. 

m 1689. King William's War began in America. 
M 1690. Port Royal (Nova Scotia) captured by the English. 
S 1692. Plymouth was united with Massachusetts. 
£ 1697. The •« Treaty of Ryswick " ended the war. _ 
^•1702. Queen Anne's War began in America, 
g 1710. Port Royal captured (2d time) by the English. 
< 1713. The «* Treaty of Utrecht " ended the war. 

1729. Carolina separated into North aud South Carolina. 

1732. Washington was born in Virginia. 
.1733. Georgia was settled at Savannah. 
*"J 1744. King George's War began in America. 
*»1745. Louisburg was taken (1st time) by the English. 
% 1748. The " Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle " ended the war. 
™ 1754. The French and Indian War began in America. 

1755. Braddock was defeated at the Monongahela. 

1757. Fort William Henry surrendered to the French. 

1758. Abercrombie was defeated at Ticonderoga. 
Louisburg was taken (2d time) by the English. 

1759. Wolfe defeated Montcalm before Quebec. 
m1760. Montreal was surrendered to the English. 
£1763. The " Treaty of Paris " ended the war. 



Chronological Tabic. 393 

Revolutionary History. 
George III. wets King of England from 1760 to 1820. 

1765. Parliament passed the Stamp Act March 8. 

The Colonial Congress met in New York Oct. 7. 

1766. Parliament repealed the Stamp Act March 18. 

1767. A bill taxing tea, glass, paper, etc., was passed June 29. 

1773. The tea in Boston harbor was thrown overboard Dec. 16. 

1774. The First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia Sept. 5. 

1775. The war commenced with the battle of Lexington April 19. 

Allen and Arnold captured Ticonderoga May 10. 

"Washington was elected commander-in-chief June 15. 

The battle of Bunker Hill June 17. 

Montgomery was defeated and slain at Quebec Dec. 31. 

1776. Boston was evacuated by the British troops March 17. 

The British were repulsed at Fort Moultrie, Charleston June 28. 

Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence July 4. 

The Americans were defeated on Long Island Aug. 27. 

Washington was defeated at White Plains Oct. 28. 

The British captured Fort Washington Nov. 16. 

"Washington took a thousand prisoners at Trenton Dec. 26. 

1777. Washington gained a victory at Princeton Jan. 3. 

Burgoyhe commenced his invasion of New York June 16. 

Fort Schuyler was besieged by St. Leger .Aug. 3. 

Stark defeated Baum at Bennington Aug. 16. 

Howe defeated Washington at the Brandywine Sept. 11. 

Battle of Bemis Heights, or First Battle of Stillwater Sept. 19. 

The British entered Philadelphia Sept. 26. 

The British defeated the Americans at Germantown Oct. 4. 

Battle of Saratoga, or Second Battle of Stillwater Oct. 7. 

Burgoyne surrendered his army to Gates Oct. 17. 

1778. France acknowledged the Independence of the IT. S. Feb. 6. 

The British, under Clinton, evacuated Philadelphia June 18. 

"Washington defeated Clinton at Monmouth June 28. 

The battle and massacre at Wyoming .July 3, 4. 

Sullivan defeated the British at Quaker Hill, R. I Aug. 29. 

Tories and Indians massacred people at Cherry Valley. . , .Nov. 11. 
Campbell captured Savannah Dec. 29. 

1779. The Americans, under Wayne, captured Stony Point July 15. 

Paul Jones gained a victory off the coast of England Sept. 23. 

D'Estaing and Lincoln were repulsed at Savannah , . . . .Oct. 9. 

1780. Lincoln surrendered Charleston to Clinton May 12. 

Cornwallis defeated Gates at Sanders Creek Aug. 16. 



394 Chronological Table. 

1780. Arnold plotted to betray West Point to the British. 

Andre was executed as a spy, at Tappan Oct. 2. 

Ferguson was defeated and slain at King's Mountain Oct. 7. 

1781. The Pennsylvania troops revolted .' Jan. 1. 

Morgan defeated Tarleton at the Cow pens Jan. 17. 

Cornvvallis pursued Morgan and Greene Jan., Feb. 

The Articles of Confederation were ratified by the States. 

Cornwallis defeated Greene at Guilford Court-House March 15. 

Rawdon defeated Greene at Hobkirk's Hill April 25. 

Arnold made an expedition against New London Sept. 6. 

The battle of Eutaw Springs Sept. 8. 

Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown Oct. 19. 

1783. A definitive treaty of peace was signed at Paris Sept. 3. 

The American army was disbanded Nov. 3. 

New York was evacuated by the British Nov. 25. 

Washington resigned his commission to Congress Dec. 23. 

1787. Shays's Rebellion occurred in Massachusetts. 

Convention of delegates adopted Constitution of U. S Sept. 17. 

National History. 

1789. George Washington was inaugurated President April 30. 

1790. The Indians defeated Harmar near Fort Wayne Oct. 17, 22. 

1791. The United States Bank was established at Philadelphia. 

Vermont was admitted into the Union March 4.* 

Indians defeated St. Clair in western part of Ohio Nov. 4. 

1792. Kentucky was admitted into the Union June 1. 

1793. Difficulties with Fiance. 

1794. Wayne defeated the Indians on the Maumee Aug. 20. 

The Whiskey Insurrection in Pennsylvania occurred. 

1795. Jay's treaty with Great Britain was ratified June 24. 

1796. Tennessee was admitted into the Union June 1. 

1797. John Adams was inaugurated President March 4. 

1799. Washington died at Mount Vernon, Virginia Dec. 14. 

1800. The city of Washington became the capital of the United States. 
A treaty of peace was concluded with France Sept. 30. 

1801. Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated President March 4. 

Tripoli declared war against the United States June 10. 

1802. Ohio was admitted into the Union Nov. 29. 

1803. The " Louisiana Purchase " was made April 30. 

Commodore Preble was sent against Tripoli. 

1804. Decatur destroyed the frigate Philadelphia Feb. 15. 

Hamilton and Burr fought a duel July 11. 

1805. A treaty of peace was concluded with Tripoli .June 3. 



Chronological Tabic. 395 

1807. The frigate Leopard attacked U. S. frigate Chesapeake. . . .June 22. 

Congress laid an embargo on American ships Dec. 22. 

1809. James Madison was inaugurated President March 4. 

1811. The U. S. frigate President defeated the Little Belt May 16. 

Harrison gained a victory at Tippecanoe Nov. 7. 

1812. Louisiana was admitted into the Union . „ April 8. 

Second War with England. 

United States proclaimed war against Great Britain June 19. 

Fort Mackinaw was surrendered to the British July 17. 

Hull surrendered Detroit to Brock Aug. 16. 

American frigate Constitution took the Guerriere. Aug. 19. 

The Americans were defeated at Queeustown Oct. 13. 

American frigate United States took the Macedonian Oct. 25. 

The American frigate Constitution took the Java Dec. 29. 

1813. The Americans captured York (now Toronto) April 27. 

Harrison and Clay defeated Proctor at Fort Meigs May 5. 

Brown repulsed the British at Sackett's Harbor May 29. 

The British frigate Shannon took the Chesapeake June 1. 

Croghan repulsed the British at Fort Stephenson Aug. 2. 

Creek War began by the massacre at Fort Minis Aug. 30. 

Perry gained his victory over Barclay on Lake Erie Sept. 10. 

Harrison defeated Proctor at the battle of the Thames Oct. 5. 

Battle of Williamsburg, or Chrysler's Field Nov. 11. 

1814. The "battle of Tohopeka ended the Creek war March 27. 

Brown defeated the British at Chippewa July 5. 

Battle of Luudy's Lane, or Bridge water July 25. 

Boss entered Washington and fired public buildings Aug. 24. 

MacDonough defeated the British on Lake Champlain Sept. 11. 

Macomb defeated the British at Plattsburg Sept. 11. 

The Americans repulsed British fleet at Fort McHenry. . .Sept. 13. 

The Americans repulsed the British at Fort Bowyer Sept. 15. 

Jackson compelled the British to leave Pensacola Nov. 7. 

The delegates to the Hartford Convention met Dec. 15. 

The treaty of peace was signed at Ghent Dec. 24. 

1815. Jackson defeated the British at New Orleans Jan. 8. 

Congress declared war against Algiers March 2. 

1816. Bank of the U. S. was re-chartered for twenty years April 10. 

Indiana was admitted into the Union Dec. 11. 

1817. James Monroe was inaugurated President March 4. 

Mississippi was admitted into the Union Dec. 10. 

1818. Jackson marched against the Seminoles March. 

Illinois was admitted into the Union Dec. 3. 



396 Chronological Table. 

1819. Spain ceded Florida to the United States. 

Alabama was admitted into the Union Dec. 14. 

1820. The "Missouri Compromise Bill " was passed March 3. 

Maine was admitted into the Union March 15. 

1821. Missouri was admitted into the Union Aug. 20. 

1824. Lafayette visited the United States Aug. 15. 

1825. John Quincy Adams was inaugurated President March 4. 

1820. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died July 4. 

1829. Andrew Jackson was inaugurated President March 4. 

1832. The Black Hawk War. 

South Carolina declared the doctrine of Nullification Nov. 24. 

183G. Arkansas Avas admitted into the Union June 15. 

1837. Michigan was admitted into the Union Jan. 2G. 

Martin Van Buren was inaugurated President March 4. 

1841. William Henry Harrison was inaugurated President March 4. 

The death of President Harrison April 4. 

John Tyler w T as inaugurated President April 6. 

1842. The Dorr rebellion in Rhode Island. 

1845. Florida was admitted into the Union March 3. 

James K. Polk was inaugurated President March 4. 

Texas was admitted into the Union Dec. 29. 

War with Mexico. 

1846. Taylor defeated the Mexicans at Palo Alto May 8. 

Taylor defeated the Mexicans at Resaca de la Palma May 9. . 

Taylor crossed the Rio Grande and took Matamoras May 18. 

Taylor defeated the Mexicans at Monterey Sept. 24. 

Doniphan defeated the Mexicans at Bracito Dec. 25. 

Iowa was admitted into the Union Dec. 28. 

1847. Taylor defeated the Mexicans at Buena Vista Feb. 23. 

Doniphan defeated the Mexicans at Sacramento Feb. 28. 

The Mexicans surrendered Vera Cruz to Scott March 27. 

Scott defeated the Mexicans at Cerro Gordo April 18. 

Scott entered the city of Mexico Sept. 14. 

1848. A treaty was made between the U. S. and Mexico Feb. 2. 

Wisconsin was admitted into the Union May 29. 

1849. Zachary Taylor was inaugurated President March 5. 

1850. The death of President Taylor occurred July 9. 

Millard Fillmore was inaugurated President July 10. 

California was admitted into the Union Sept, 9. 

1853. Franklin Pierce was inaugurated President March 4. 

1854. Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Bill May 31. 

1857. James Buchanan was inaugurated President March 4. 

1858. Minnesota was admitted into the Union May lb 



Chronological Table. 397 

1859. Oregon was admitted into the Union Feb. 14. 

John Brown made a raid into Virginia Oct. 16. 

Great Civil War. 

1860. South Carolina passed a secession ordinance Dec. 20. 

1861. Mississippi (Jan. 9), Florida (Jan. 10), Alabama (Jan. 11), 

Georgia (Jan. 19), Louisiana (Jan. 26), Texas (Feb. 1), 
Virginia (April IT), Arkansas (May 6), Tennessee (May 
7), and North Carolina (May 20), passed secession ordi- 
nances. 

Kansas was admitted into the Union Jan. 29. 

The " Southern Confederacy " was formed Feb. 

Lincoln was inaugurated President of the United States. .March 4. 

The Confederates attacked Fort Sumter April 12, 13. 

Lincoln proclaimed a blockade of Southern ports April 19. • 

Volunteer troops were attacked in Baltimore April 19. 

England (May 13), France (June 10), Spain (June 17), and 
Portugal (July 29), acknowledged the Confederate 
States as belligerents. 

Union troops were repulsed at Big Bethel June 10. 

The Union army was routed at Bull Run Jul}- 21. 

A Union force captured the forts at Hatteras Inlet Aug. 29. 

Lexington, Mo., was surrendered to the Confederates Sept. 20. 

A Union force captured forts at Port Royal entrance Nov. 7. 

The Confederates were victorious at Belmont Nov. 7. 

Mason and Slidell were taken from a British steamer Nov. 8. 

1862. Fort Henry was captured by a fleet of U. S. gunboats Feb. 6. 

Fort Donelson Avas captured by the Unionists. Feb. 16. 

The Confederates were defeated at Pea Ridge March 8. 

Engagement between the Monitor and Merrimac March 9. 

The Unionists gained a victory at Shiloh April 7. 

Fort Pulaski was surrendered to the Unionists April 11. 

New Orleans was captured by the Unionists April 25. 

The battle of Fair Oaks May 51, June 1. 

Memphis surrendered to the Unionists June 6. 

" The Seven days' contest befcre Richmond" June 25-July 1. 

Battles between Manassas and Washington Aug. 23-30. 

The Confederates, under Lee, invaded Maryland Sept. 5. 

Lee's army was defeated at Antietam Sept. 17. 

The Unionists were victorious at Iuka Sept. 19. 

The Confederates were repulsed at Corinth Oct. 4. 

The Confederates gained a victoiy at Fredericksburg Dec. 13. 

1863. Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Jan. 1. 



Chronological Tabic. 



The Confederates captured Galveston Jan. 1. 

The Unionists gained a victory at Mnrfreesboro Jan. 2. 

The Unionists were defeated at Chancellorsville May 3. 

West Virginia was admitted into the Union June 20. 

Lee made his second invasion of Maryland June 21. 

The Union army was vic'.orious at Gettysburg July 3. 

Yicksburg was surrendered to the Unionists July 4. 

Port Hudson w T as surrendered to the Unionists July 8. 

The great riot in New York July 13-10. 

The Confederates were victorious at Chickamauga Sept. 20. 

The Unionists gained a victory at Chattanooga Nov. 25. 

1864. The Unionists were defeated at Olustee Feb. 20. 

Grant was appointed Lieutenant-General March 3. 

The battle of the Wilderness .May 5, 0. 

Sherman began his march against Atlanta May 7. 

The battles near Spottsylvania May 9-21. 

The Kearsarge met and sunk the Alabama June 10. 

The Confederates, under Early, invaded Maryland July 4. 

Chambersburg was sacked and partly burned July 30. 

The Unionists gained a victory in Mobile Bay Aug. 5. 

Sherman captured Atlanta ' Sept. 2. 

The Unionists were victorious at Cedar Creek Oct. 10. 

Nevada was admitted into the Union Oct. 31. 

The Unionists gained a victoiy at Nashville Dec. 16. 

1865. Union troops and fleet captured Fort Fisher Jan. 15. 

Sherman captured Columbia Feb. 17. 

Charleston was occupied by Union troops Feb. 18. 

Wilmington was captured by Union troops Feb. 22. 

The Freedmen's Bureau Bill became a law March 3. 

Union troops occupied Petersburg and Richmond April 3. 

Lee surrendered to Grant April 9. 

President Lincoln was assassinated .• April 14. 

Andrew Johnson was inaugurated President April 15. 

1867. Nebraska was admitted into the Union March i. 

Alaska was purchased for $7,200,000 June 20. 

1868. The House of Representatives impeached Pres. Johnson.. .Feb. 24. 

The president was acquitted May 26. 

The Fourteenth Amendment was declared adopted July 28. 

1869. Ulysses S. Grant was inaugurated President March 4. 

1870. The Fifteenth Amendment was declared adopted Feb. 22. 

1871. The Great Fire of Chicago Oct. 7, 8, 9. 



VOCABULARY 



OF DIFFICULT AND UNUSUAL WORDS. 



Ab'a-tis. Branches of trees sharpened 
and turned outward for defense. 

Abdicate.. To give up (as, an office). 

Ab-o-rii» ;'i lies (-rij'e-neez). The first 
inhabitants of a country. 

Ab original. First ; primitive. 

Ab'ro-gate. To repeal ; to annul. 

Ab-solve'. To clear from blame or 
guilt, 

Ac-qui esce' {ac-kwe-e$ r ). To yield as- 
sent to. 

Ac-ri-mo iii-ous. Full of bitterness ; 
severe. 

Adequate. Equal to ; sufficient. 

Adjunct. Something joined to; an 
appendage. 

Ad-venturer. One who lives by bold 
and hazardous undertakings. 

Affix. Something attached to; a sylla- 
ble joined to a word. 

Aguressive. Assailing; disposed to 
attack. 

Ag-ri cultural. Pertaining to farm- 
ing or tilhitre. 

Aid-de-camp iad'e-kawncj). One who 
attends on a military officer to convey 
his orders. 

Al'clie-my. Chemistry as understood 
and practised in former times, one of 
its chief objects being to change the 
common metals into gold. 

Al-le'giauce (-jance). Obligation of a 
subject; loyalty. 

Al-le-vi-a'tion. Act of lessening; miti- 
gation. 

Al-ter'Jiate-ly. By turns' ; one after 
the other. 

Amateur' (-lur). A lover of any science 
or art ; not a professor. 

Am-nui-ni'tiou. Military stores, as 
powder, balls, etc. 

An'a-lyze, To separate into component 
parts. 

An'ar-chy, Want of government ; con- 
fusion. 

An i mad ver'sion, Unfavorable com- 
ment ; censure. 

An 11 ex a tio 11. Act of joining to ; 
union. 

An ni lii la tion. Act of destroying ; 
reducing to nothing. 

An-tag'o-nist. An opponent. 

Ail-tip' o-des. Those who live on op- 
posite sides of the earth. 



An-ti scor-bu'tic. Curing or prevent- 
ing the scurvy. 

A-pos'ta-sy. A falling from one's pro- 
fession or faith. 

A-pos'tale. One guilty of apostasy. 

A-pos'tle. One sent to preach the gos- 
pel. 

Apparition. An appearance of a 
preternatural character; a ghost. 

Ap-pel-Ia'tion. A name; a title. 

Aqua Vita?. Latin phrase, meaning 
tcater of life ; brandy. 

Ar-cbi-pel-a'go yar-ke-pel' a' go). A sea 
crowded with islands ; a large group 
of islands. 

Archives (ar'kives). Records; place 
for records. 

Ar'ma-ment. A land or naval force. 

Ar'que-buse (ctr'kwe-bus). Ahand-gun. 

Ar-que-bus-ier'. A soldier armed with 
: n arqnebnee. 

Ar-til'le-ry. Weapons of war; troops 
that manage cannon, etc. 

Assimilate. To make similar to. 

Asylum. A refuge.; a charitable in- 
stitution. 

Atonement. Satisfaction for crime ; 
expiation. 

Augury. Foretelling events by signs 
or omens. 

Aus-pi'cious. Having omens of suc- 
cess : favorable. 

Ban-do-leer'. A small case for powder. 
Barony, The territory or dignity of a 

baron. 
Bar-ri-cade'. An obstruction formed 

hurriedly against an attack. 
Bar racks. Buildings for soldiers to 

lodge in. 
Basaltic (ba-zawlt'ic). Consisting of a 

grayish-black stone. 
Ba-sliaw'. A Turkish governor or 

viceroy. 
Basso-Relievo (Italian). Sculpture 

in which the figures partly stand out 

from a plane surface. 
Be-leag'uer {be-le'ger). To besiege ; to 

block up. 
Bel-lig'e rent. Waging war. 
Benefactor. One who does good, — 

who confers a benefit. 
Be- nig'ni-ty , Goodness of heart ; kind' 



400 



Vocabulary. 



Bicker ings. Quarrels ; contentions. 
Bigotry. Blind zeal in favor of any 

particular doctrine or faith. 
Bilge. The broadest part of a ship's 

bottom ; to spring a leak. 
Bivouac (biv'wak). Passing the night 

in the open air. as soldiers. 
Bland ness. Mildness; softness. 
Bom-bard'meut. An attack with 

bombs (large iron shells tided with 

powder). 
Bomb'-proof. Secure against bombs ; 

a place of refuge in a fort, against 

bombs. 
Brig'an tine. A small brig, or tw 

masted vessel. 
Bui J ion (bull'ijun). Uncoined silver or 

gold. 
Burgli'er {burg'er). An inhabitant of a 

burgh, or corporate town ; a citizen. 
Bni'-go-iuas'ter. A magistrate in a 

Dutch city. 

Can'is-ter. A small box for tea, coffee, 
powder, etc. Abbreviation of Canister- 
fliot ; a charge for cannon, consisting of 
bullets, etc., inclosed in a canister or 
case. 

Can -non ade'. An assault with can- 
non. 

Ca-pil ii late. To yield on expressed 
conditions. 

Cartel'. An agreement for the exchange 
of prisoners. 

Casque (ra.4l. A helmet. 

Ca-tas'tro-plie. The termination of an 
event : a calamity. 

Ca'v-al cade'. A procession on horse- 
back. 

Cav-a-lier' {-leer). An armed horseman ; 
a knisht. 

Cer-e-mo'ni-al. Outward form or rite. 

Cliap-ar-ral' ($hap-). A thicket of ever- 
green oaks. 

Chateau {shot-to 1 ). A castle, or coun- 
try seat. 

Clii-mer'i-eal {ki-). Fanciful; imagi- 
nary : unreal. 

Cliiv'al-ry. Knighthood ; heroic adven- 
ture. 

Cliron'i-cler. A narrator of events; a 
historian. 

Circuitous. Round about ; not di- 
rect. 

Cir'cum scribe. To inclose within 
fixed limits. 

Clangor ik'ang'gor). A loud, shrill 
sound ; clang. 

Ciar'i-on. A kind of trumpet, of a shrill, 
clear tone. 

Coalition. Union ; alliance ; confed- 
eracy. 

Coercion. Compulsion ; restraint. 

Coin'age. Act of coining; money 
coined. 

Col'league. A partner in the same 
office ; an as=c ciate. 

Co-los'sal. Huge ; gigantic. 

Com-mem'o-raie. To celebrate with 
honor. 

Coii-eil'i-ate. To gain the favor of; to 
gain by concession. 



Con-fed'er-a-cy. A league, or mutual 
agreement. 

i on lis ca tion. Transferring to the 
state as a penalty ; forfeiture. 

Conflagration. An extensive fire. 

Connubial. Pertaining to marriage. 

Con sail guinity. Relationsliip by 
blood or birth. 

Con -ster nation. Amazement; ex- 
cessive alarm. 

Con-la gi o us. Communicated by con- 
tact ; infectious. 

Coii-tein'po-ra-ry. Existing at the 
same time. 

( on tra band. Unlawful ; forbid- 
den. 

Con-ven'tioii-al. Agreed on by com- 
pact; customary. 

Co-operate. To work with others. 

Cop'pice. A wood of small growth. 

Cor'po-ral. An inferior military offi- 
cer, next below a sergeant. 

Cru'ci-fix. A representation of our Lord 
on the cross. 

Cuisse (kwis). Armor for the thigh. 

Cupidity. Intense desire of gain. 

Cy-lin'dri-cal. Having the form of a 
cylinder; long, and uniformly circu- 
lar. 

De-bar'. To bar out; to exclude. 

Be bark a tion. Act of putting on 
shore ; landing. 

De-ei'plier. To explain what is written 
in cipher ; to unfold. 

De-ploy'. To uufold ; to open out the 
divisions of an army. 

De-populate. To" dispeople ; to lay 
wast i'. 

De-pos'i-to-ry. A place for depositing 
^oods. 

Dcp re-da'tion. Robbing ; laying 
waste, 

Dep'u-ty. One appointed to act for 
another. 

DeS'Caut'. To sing; to discourse at 
large. 

Despotism. Absolute power; tyr- 
anny. 

Des'ui-to-ry. Without method ; uncon- 
nected. 

Diabolical. Relating to the devil; 
devilish ; wicked. 

Di a-lect. A form of language peculiar 
to a particular district or locality. 

Dight (elite). Dressed; adorned. 

Dilemma A choice between two diffi- 
culties; perplexity. 

Di -p!o nia-tist. One skilled as an am- 
bassador. 

Dis at Ice tion. Want of aff.ction ; 
dislike. 

Dis-ci-plin-a'rl-an. One skilled iu 
discipline. — in training or Instruction. 

Dissertation. A discourse ; a ina- 
tise. 

Di-vest'i tare. The surrender of pro- 
perty. 

Domesticate. To accommodate to 
the house ; to tame. 

Doublet (Uub'let). A thing doubled ; a 
man's inner garment. 



Vocabulary. 



401 



Ed ace'. To draw out ; to extract. 
Ei-l'em i-iiaie. Womanish; tender; 

weak. 
£ lab orate To finish with labor and 

skill. 
El Uo-ra'do (Spanish). A country rich 

in sold. 
E-lix ir. A tincture ; an extract. 
E-man-ci-pa'lion. A setting free from 

slavery. 
Em-bez'zle. To appropriate to one's 

own use property held in trust. 
E-mer'»eu-cy. Pressing necessity. 
Ein'is-sa-ry. One sent on a mission. 
E-mol U'liient. Profit from an office 

or employment. 
Encomium. Formal praise; pane- 
gyric. 
Eivdoiv'meut. Gift of a permanent 

fund : gift of nature ; talent. 
Eu-tliu si-asm. Ardent or excessive 

zeal. 
Enunciate. To utter distinctly ; to 

declare. 
Ep'ofh. Time of an important event, 

used for reckoning dates ; an era. 
E-quos tri-an. Pertaining to horse- 
manship. 
E-rad'i-cate. To root out; to abolish. 
E'ru-dite. Learned; well read. 
Es-iu-a'ry. Aim of the sea in which 

the tide rises. 
Espouse'. To marry; to assume the 

defense of. 
Etiquette {-kef). Forms of civility; 

ceremoiiy. 
E11 clia-rist. The sacrament of the 

Lord's supper. 
Eu'lo-gy. A speech or writing iu praise 

of any person. 
E-vac'u-ate. To make empty ; to quit. 
E-veii'tu-al-ly. In the event: finally. 
Ex-as'per-ate. To make angry; to 

provoke. 
Ex-com-mu'ni-cate. To exclude from 

church communion. 
Ex'e-crate. To curse. 
Executor. One who carries a will 

into effect. 
Exemplar, A copy or pattern; a 

model for imitation. 
Ex-i-gen'cy. Pressing necessity. 
Ex-ot'ic. Foreign: a foreign plant. 
Exp ^i'ti-ate (she-ate). To enlarge upon 

in discourse. 
Ex-pa-tri-a'tion. Act of quitting; re- 
nouncing one's native country. 
Ex-pe'di-en-cy, Fitness; propriety. 
Extermination. Utter destruc- 
tion. 
Ex-tor'tion. Unlawful exaction. 
Ex'tri-eate. To free from difficulty ; to 

disentangle. 
Exuberance. Great abundance. 

Fa-iiat'i-cism, Religious frenzy. 

Fan-tas'ti cal-Iy. Whimsically; fanci- 
fully. 

Fascine (fas-seen'). A bundle of sticks 
used in fortification. 

Feu de joie (fuh de jwah). Firing of 
guns in token of joy. Plural, feux. 



Fiek/le-ness. Changeableness of opin- 
ion or purpose : inconstancy. 

Fo-ren'sic. Relating to public assem- 
blies. 

Formality, Observance of forms; 
cen mony. 

For mid-a-ble. Apt to excite fear: 
dreadful. 

Fortuitous, Accidental ; happening 
by chance. 

Fraki'cliise (fran'chiz). A political 
rii_ r ht or privilege. 

Free'boot-er. A plunderer. 

Frig'ate. A ship of Avar, next in size to 
a ship of the line. 

Front'ier. The border of a country. 

Ful tuin a tion. Denunciation of cen- 
sure ; explosion. 

Fuii-da-ment'al. Pertaining to the 
foundation ; essential. 

Fusee', A firelock, or gun. 

Gar'ri-son. A body of soldiers in charge 

of a fort. 
Gaunt/let. An iron glove. 
Ge'ni-al. Productive; cheerful or gay. 
Guaranty. To warrant ; a surety. 
Gut'tur-al. Pertaining to the throat. 

Hallow. To make sacred or holy. 
Har'biu-ger. That which indicates 

coming evil : a precursor. 
Hawk's bells. Bells used in falconry, 

to fasten on the foot of the hawk. 
He-red'i-ta-ry. Descending by inher- 
itance. 
Heresy. Error in religious faith or 

doctrine. 
Holocaust. A whole animal used in 

a burnt-offering. 
Ho-ri'zon. The circle which bounds 

our view. 
Howitzer. A short gun mounted on 

a caniage. 
Husbandry, Farming; tillage. 

Ignis Fatuus (Latin). A meteor seen 
in l lie night over marshy ground, and 
leading travellers astray ; anything 
deceptive. 

Ig-110 -miii i-ous. Disgraceful. 

Il-lim-i-ta'ble. Unbounded. 

Im-mor lal-ize. To make enduring 
or immortal. 

1 111-111 u'ni -ty. Freedom from obligation; 
special exemption. 

Implacable. Not to be appeased or 
satisfied. 

ln-au'gii-rate. To induct into office 
with appropriate ceremonies. 

In-ceii'di-a-ry. One who maliciously 
sets fire to a house: producing sedition. 

Iii-elem'eiit. Harsh ; severe. 

In-com-pat'i-ble. Inconsistent with. 

In-cor'por-ate. To unite with ; to form 
into a body. 

Incursion. Inroad; invasion. 

lu-deii-ta'tion. A cut ; a notch. 

Indomitable. Not to be subdued ; 
unconquerable ; untamable. 

In-eri'. Without power to move; inact- 
ive; sluggish. 



402 



Vocabulary. 



In es'ti ma-ble. Too valuable for esti- 
matioa ; invaluable. 

In ev i table. Not to be avoided ; un- 
avoidable. 

Inexorable. Not to be moved by 
entreaty : unyielding. 

In-ex tri-ca Me. Not to be disentan- 
gled. 

In-lal'li-ble. Incapable of error; un- 
failing. 

Infatuated. Inspired with an ex- 
travagant passion. 

In-lios'pit-a-ble. Affordingno shelter 
to strangers ; repulsive. 

In-i'ti-a-tive. Introducing; au intro- 
ductory step. 

In-ter-lace'. To weave or plait toge- 
ther. 

In-ter-po si'tion. Act of placing be- 

lu-ter-reg'ntim. The time a throne is 

vacant between two successive reigns. 

Iii-ter-veii'tion. A coming between ; 
mediation. 

In-tol'er-ance. Want of forbearain e 
toward ot tiers of different religious 
views from ourselves; disposition to 
persecute. 

In-trigue' (in-treeg'). Plot; secret ma- 
noeuvre. 

Iil-tu'i-tive-ly. By immediate knowl- 
edge: without reasoning:. 

Ill-lire'. To habituate; to familiarize. 

Inveigh iin-va'). To exclaim against; 
to censure. 

In-vig'o-rate. To strengthen. 

In-vih'ci-ble. Not to be conquered. 

Iii-vui'iier-a-ble. Incapable of being 
wounded; secure from injury. 

lr'ri-ta-ble. Easily provoked. 

Ju-di'ci-a-ry. Pertaining to courts of 

justice ; body of judges. 
Juris die tion. Legal authority. 

Lie'geiid. A fable; myth: an inscrip- 
tion. 

L,eg is la'tor (lej-). A law-giver. 

Le vi a than. A large sea-animal. 

Lieu ten ant (loo-). An oflicer second 
in rank ; a deputy. 

lam pid'i-ty. Clearness. 

L.U1F. To turn the head of a ship toward 
the wind, 

Mag-na-nim'i-ty. Greatness of mind ; 
generosity. 

Malcon -lent. A dissatisfied person ; 
discontented with the government. 

Itlan i los to. A public and official dec- 
laration. 

MaiKKu'vre. A dexterous movement ; 
a stratagem. 

Mara ud'er. A rover in quest of booty 
or plunder. 

Maritime (-dm). Pertaining to or 
bordering on the sea ; marine. 

Me-lee' (mala'). A confused fight or 
sen file. 

Mem'or-a-ble. Worthy of being re- 
membered or mentioned; illustr.ous ; 
celebrated. 



Memo'ri-a 1. That which preserves the 
remembrance of anything. 

Mer'ce-na-ry. To be obtained or hired 
for money ; venal. Mtrceiiurits, hired 
troops. 

Mercurial, pertaining to quicksilver; 
easily excited ; sprightly. 

Mete or-o-log'ic-af. Pertaining to 
meteorology, the science of atmospheric 
changes. 

Mi-gra'tio n . Change of residence from 
one count.y to another. 

Migratory. Wandering; nomadic. 

Mis-de-mean'or. Misbehavior ; an 
offence, 

Morass'. A marsh ; a swamp. 

Mortar. A cannon for throwing bombs. 

Mulct. To fine ; a fine. 

Municipal. Belonging to a corpora- 
tion or city. 

Munificence. Liberality; generos- 
ity. 

Mu'ti-ny. A revolt in the navy or army. 

Mys'ter-y. Something that cannot be 
understood or explained. 

Myth-ol'o-gy. The fables relating to 
the heathen deities. 

Nar cot'ic. Producing sleep. 

Naturalize. To invest with the priv- 
ileges of a native citizen. 

Nau'ii-eal. Pertaining to ships or sail- 
ors. 

Ne-go'ti-a-tion. Transaction of busi- 
ness ; a treaty. 

Nonconformist. One who refuses 
to conform to the established religion. 

Ob-scene'. Offensive; disgusting. 
Odoriferous. Giving scent; fra- 
grant. 
Onerous. Burdensome. 
Op-por tune . Seasonable. 
Op'u-lent. Wealthy; rich. 
Or deal. A formal and severe trial. 
Or'gies. (or'jeez) Frantic revels. 
Os-»en'si-bly. Apparently. 
Os-ten ta'lions. Showy; pompons. 
Overweening. Vain; conceited. 

Pa-eif'i-ca-to-ry. Tending to make 

peace. 
Pal-i-sadc'. A defense formed by poles 

or stakes driven into the ground. 
Pan-e-gyr'ie. A laudatory speech ; a 

eulogy. 
Pan'ie. A sudden fright ; an alarm. 
Pan'o-ply. Complete armor lor defense. 
Par'a-Iyze, To deprive of sense and 

feeling. 
Parliament. The legislature of Great 

Britain, consisting of Lords and Com- 
mons. 
Pa-ter'nal. Pertaining to a Gather. 
Pe-cu'ni-a-ry. Relating to money. 
Penal. Relating to punishment. 
Penury. Extreme poverty. 
Per e-gri-iia'tion. Travelling about; 

foreign travel. 
Per'emp-tor-i-ly. In the manner of a 

command ; positively. 
Per fi-dy. Breach of faith ; treachery. 



Vocabulary. 



403 



Pernicious. Hurtful. 

Per-peuii-ty. Indefinite duration; 
stability. _ 

Pertinently, jo the purpose-, ap- 
pr. >| iria t t-ly. 

Per-tur-ba'tion. Disturbance; dis- 
quiet of mind. 

Phalanx. A compact body of infantry. 

Phantom. An apparition ; a vision. 

Phase. An appearance. 

Plic-nom'c-iion. An appearance ; any- 
thing remarkable. 

Philanthropy. The love of man- 
kind. 

Phi-lol o-gist. One skilled in language, 
and the science pertaining to it. 

Picturesque' {-resk). Like a picture. 

Pinnace. A ship's boat. 

Pirogue (perOg). A canoe formed from 
a tree. 

Placid. Peaceful ; calm. 

Platoon . A square body of mus- 
keteer-'. 

Pl«»ii'i-ttide. Fullness. 

Plight. To give as surety ; to pledge. 

Po-lar'i-ty. Tendency to the pole; hav- 
ing poles. 

Pol'i-tic. Prudent ; artful. 

Pos-ier'i-ty. Descendants ; succeeding 
generations. 

Precarious. Uncertain ; depending 
011 another's will. 

Pre cip-i-ta tion. Headlong haste; 
rashness. 

Pre-eip i-tous. Steep: headlong. 

Preconceived'. Conceived before- 
hand. 

Precursor. A forerunner ; a harbin- 

Pred'a-to-ry. Subsisting on plunder. 

Predecessor. One who precedes 
another i«i an office. 

Pre destine. To decree or appoint 
beforehand. 

Prediction. A foretelling; a prophe- 
cy. 

Pre-dom'i-nate. To have superior in- 
fluence ; to prevail. 

Preeminent, Excellent above others. 

Pre-lim'i-na-ry. Introductory. 

Pre-pos-ses'sing. Preconceived opin- 
ion in favor of anything. 

Pre pos'ter-ous. Absurd; perverted. 

Pre-rog'a-tive. A peculiar privilege. 

Prim'i-tive. First ; original. 

Privateer'. A private armed ship. 

Pro-fic'ien-cy (-fish-). Advancement. 

Progeny (proj-). Offspring. 

Prog-nos'tie. Foreshowing ; Prognos- 
tic* , signs. 

Proin'ou-to-ry. A high and rocky 
cape. 

Pro-mul'gaie. To publish. 

Propagate. To extend ; to diffuse. 

Pro-pri'e-ta-ry. A possessor in his 
own right ; an owner. 

Pro-scribe'. To set down as con- 
demned ; to outlaw. 

Prox-im'i-ty. Nearness ; being adja- 
ceut. 

Pu'er-il* i-il).- Childish; boyish. 

Pu-is'saut, Powerful. 



Py-ram'i-dal. Having the form of a 
pyramid. 

Re-cip-ro-ca'tion. Mutual exchange. 

Reconnoitre. To view or survey for 
military purposes. 

Rcc-tairgu-lar. Having right angles. 

Re-doubt (re-douV). A fortification. 

Re-niou'strate. To exhibit reasons 
against. 

Ren'dez-vous. An appointed meeting. 

Renegade. One who deserts to the 
enemy. 

Re-plen'ish. To fill again. 

Requiem. A hymn sung over thedead. 

Re-qui'tal. Recompense; return. 

Re frai'i-ate. To return like for like. 

Retinue. A train of attendants. 

Ret-ri-bu'tion. Return ; recompense; 
punishment. 

Re-veil'lc (re-val'ya). Soldier's morn- 
ing call. 

Revulsion. Turning or drawing back. 

Ritual. Relating to church service; a 
book of religious rites. 

Sachem- The chief of an Indian tribe. 

Salve Regina. A Latin phrase mean- 
ing Hail, Queen! The first words of a 
Latin hymn. 

Sanction. Confirmation; that part of 
a law which gives authority to enforce 
it by a penalty. 

San'giiin-a-ry. Attended with blood- 
shed ; eager to shed blood. 

Schep'en. A Dutch magistrate. 

Sec'u-lar. Worldly; not spiritual. 

Sedition. Tumult; insurrection. 

Se-duct'ive. Enticing; misleading. 

Sem'i na-r y • A place of education ; a 
school. 

Se-pul'ehral. Relating to a sepulchre 
or tomb. 

Shal'lop. A boat with two masts. 

Sham'bles. A flesh-market ; a butchery. 

Sinister. On the left hand ; unlucky. 

So-no'rous. Emitting a loud, clear 
sound. 

Sooth'say-er. A fortune-teller. 

Soph'ism. A specious argument; a 
fallacy. 

Soph'is try. Deceptive reasoning. 

Sor'did. Base ; mean. 

Spec'tre. An apparition : a ghost. 

Spin'ster. An unmarried woman. 

Squad r« 11. A bddy of troops ; a divi- 
sion of a fleet. 

Sta pie. Tlie principal production of a 
country ; chief. 

Statist Ics . A collection of facts exactly 
stated in numbers, generally in relation 
to the strength and -resources of a 
nation. 

Stat-is-ti'cian. One versed in statistics. 

Stig'ma-tize. To mark with disgrace 
or reproach. 

Sti'reud. Settled pay ; w r ages. 

Slip'u-late. To agree by setiled terms. 

Sub'al-teru. An officer under the rank 
of ciptain. 

Sub-si'dence. Sinking down; settle- 
ment. 



404 



Vocabulary. 



Sub-or-di-na'tion. Subjection ; in- 
feriority of rank. 

Suffix. A syllable annexed to a word. 

Supersede'. To make void; to set 
aside. 

Superstition. False religion or wor- 
ship ; belief in things improbable and 
supernatural. 

Su-prem'a-cy. The highest rank and 
authority. 

Tableau' (iab-lo'). A picture; repre- 
sentation resembling a picture. 

Tall'' rail. The uppermost rail of a 
ship's stern. 

Teeh'iii-eal . Pertaining to a particular 
art. * 

Tem'po-ra-ry. For a time; not per- 
manent. 

Ten'ure. Manner of holding property. 

Tc-o eal'li. House of God ; name of a 
Mexican temple. 

TVr-res'tri-al. Pertaining to the earth. 

Tbe-o-log'i-cal. Pertaining to theo- 
logy, m- the science which treats of the 
being and attiibutes of God. 

Tou'rist. One who travels for pleasure. 

Tra-di'tion. Oral transmission of facts 
to posterity. 

Tri um'vir-ate. An association of 
three men. 

Trtb'u-ta-ry. Paying tribute. 

Trophy. Something' taken in battle, 
used as a memorial of victory. 

Trop'i-cal. Within the tropics ; in the 
Torrid Zone. 



Tiir'bid. Thick ; muddy. 
Tumbril. A kind of basket. 

Un-a'lien-a-ble. Not to be transferred ; 
inalienable. 

U-iiaii'i-mous. Agreeing in opinion. 

Un-ap-pro'pri-a-ted. Not assigned to 
a particular use. 

Unavailing. Of no avail ; ineffect- 
ual. 

Un-de-filed'. Unstained ; uncorrupted. 

I ii -lial lowed. Unholy; profane. 

Un-lim'ber. To take off the limbers, 
or shafts. 

Un-par'^I-leled. Without an equal. 

Usurpation. Unlawlul seizure or 
possession. 

U-ten'sil. An instrument for any use; 
a vessel. 

Ver'diet. The decision of a jury. 

Ver-sa-til'i-ty. The faculty of easily 
turning to new subjects. 

Ves'per. The evening star; the even- 
ing. 

Veteran, One long exercised in any 
profession or employment. 

Vis'ion-a-ry. An enthusiast ; adreamer. 

Wear. To change the course of a vessel. 
Wig' wain. Au Indian hut. 

Yaelit (yof). A pleasure-boat. 
law, To deviate from the course. 
lfco'man-ry. The body of yeomen ; of 
owners or freeholders. 



BIOGEAPHIOAL INDEX OF AUTHOES. 

[Embracing the various authors from whose writings selections have been made for the 
Reader.] 



Allen (Ethan), celebrated as a patriot general during the first year of the Revolutionary 
War. was born in Connecticut in 1742. After his bold exploit in the capture of Fort 
Ticonderoga, in 1775, he was defeated in an attack on Montreal, and was made 
prisoner, and sent to England in irons. He was never engaged in active military 
service afterward. He died in Vermont, in 1789. He published a number of contro- 
versial pamphlets, and a narrative of his observations during his captivity. 

Bail lie {Joanna), distinguished as a poetess and dramatist, was born hi Scotland in 
17(52. Her dramas have a very high order of merit for the smoothness and regularity 
of their style, the originality of their plots, and the graphic force with which the 
characters are brought out. The tragedies of Count Basil and De Montfort have 
been especially admired. Miss Baillie died in 1851. 

Bancroft (George), one of the most eminent of American historians, was born at 
Worcester. Mass., in the year 1800. He early manifested remarkable talent, gradu- 
ating at Harvard College with the highest honors at the age of seventeen. The 
publication of his great work, "The History of the United States, 1 ' was commenced 
in 1834, and is still unfinished. Mr. Bancroft has filled several important political 
offices, having been Secretary of the Navy under President Polk, and having, as 
Minister-Plenipotentiary to Great Britain, represented the United States from 1846 
to 1849. He is now (1872) Minister-Plenipotentiary at Berlin. 

Bellows (Henry Whitney, D.D.), an eminent American clergyman, was born in Boston 
in 1814, and graduated at Harvard College in 1832. Six years afterward, he was 
ordained pastor of the First Congregational (Unitarian) Church, in the city of New 
York. He was the chief originator of the "Christian Inquirer," a Unitarian news- 
paper commenced in New York in 1846; and, until 1850, was the principal contribu- 
tor to its columns. His publications consist chiefly of pamphlets and discourses, all 
of which show high culture and extensive attainments. Dr. Bellows i3 a fluent and 
effective speaker, and a popular lecturer. He is at present (1872) pastor of the parish 
over which he was first ordained, his congregation now occupying the edifice known 
as "All Souls' Church." He is also the editor of the " Liberal Christian." 

Brodhead (John Eomeyn), was born in Philadelphia in 1814; was Secretary of 
Legation at the Hague in 1839, and subsequently agent of the State of New York to 
procure historical documents in Europe. In 1846 he was appointed Secretary of 
Legation, under George Bancroft, at the Court of England. His principal literary 
work is the " History of the State of New York,"— a performance of great merit and 
research. 

Bryant (William Cullen), the distinguished American poet, was bora in Massachusetts 
ia 1794. His poetic genius was very early displayed, his verses written at the age of 
ten being considered worthy of publication. His poetry is of a very high order, both 
as to sentiment and expression. As a man he is universally esteemed for his active 
beneficence, unbending integrity, and kindliness of disposition. 

Campbell (Charles), was born at Petersburg, Va., in 1807. His principal publication 
is the " History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia," containing an 



406 Biographical Index of Authors. 

outline narrative of the events from the first discovery and settlement of the country 
clown to the surrender of Corn wal lis, in 1781. It is a work of faithful accuracy. 

Clark {Louis Gaylord), was born in Otisco, N. Y., in 1810. He obtained a very high 
reputation for literary ability by his editorship of the Knickerbocker Magazine, which 
was commenced in 1832. His contributions comprised in the Editor's Table were 
peculiarly rich in humor and genial fancy. In 1853 he published a collection of these, 
under the title of "Knick-knacks from an Editor's Table." His twin-brother, Willis 
Gaylord Clark, also occupied a distinguished place in the circle of American writers, 
and enriched the pages of his brother's magazine with his contributions. 

Cooper (James Fenimore), the distinguished American novelist, was born in 17^9. 
At the age of sixteen he entered the navy as a midshipman, and followed the life 
of a sailor for six years. His writings are very numerous, including^the "Leather- 
stocking Tales," and other novels, and the "Naval History of the United States." 
In his description of the sea, and the various incidents of a sailor's life, as well as 
of the Indians and their savage manners, no author can claim any comparison with 
Cooper. His death occurred in 1851. 

Dnganne {Augustine J. H.), born in 1823, in Boston, is the author of many popular 
compositions, both in prose and verse. The latter are characterized by much energy 
of expression and fertility of imagination, as well as an intense sympathy with truth, 
freedom, and humanity. Mr. Duganne is, at present, the editor of the "New York 
Republican." 

Everett (Edward), the celebrated orator and statesman, was born in Massachusetts 
in 1794, and died in 18(54. His speeches were remarkable for their elaborate finish, 
peculiar elegance of style, and justness of sentiment ; while his delivery was exceed- 
ingly dignified and graceful. Mr. Everett was for ten years a member of Congress, 
and for four successive years Governor of Massachusetts. He was also Secretary of 
State, and Minister to the Court of Great Britain. 

Garden (Alexander, M.D.), bom in Edinburgh in 1730, but a resident of Charleston, 
S. C, from 1750 to 1783 ; was the author of various medical treatises, and a contributor 
to scientific and literary journals. He died in 1791. 

Graliainc (James), a Scotch writer of some eminence. His principal work is the 
• "Colonial History of the United States," which was published in 1827. This work 
has been generally commended, all hough some of its statements have been called in 
question. Mr. Grahame died in 1842, at the age of fifty-one. With regard to him 
Josiah Quincy remarks, " To Americans, in all future times, it cannot fail to be an 
interesting and gratifying circumstance, that the foreigner who first undertook to 
write a complete history of their republic, from the earliest period of the colonial 
settlements, was a Briton, eminently qualified to appreciate the merits of its found- 
ers, and at once so able and so willing to do justice to them." 

Greeley (Horace), one of the most distinguished journalists of this country, was 
born in New Hampshire in 1811, and commenced life as a printer. The New York . 
Tribune, which was commenced by him in 1841. has been for several years one of 
the leading journals of the United States. Mr. Greeley's style is vigorous and pun- 
gent, and his writings abound in useful information, addressed to the practical 
common-sense of the reader. His most extensive work is the "American Conflict," 
in which he gives, with considerable fullness, the events of that great struggle be- 
tween the two sections of the country, together with the political and social causes 
that led to it. 

Greene (George Washington), born in Rhode Island in 1811, a grandson of General 
Nathaniel Greene, of Revolutionary celebrity, is the author of a "Life of General 
Greene," first published as a portion of " Sparks's American Biography,"subsequeiitly 
much enlarged. He has also published several historical and geographical works, as 
well as an edition of Addison's works, and contributed many papers on historical 
and critical subjects to the North American Review, Knickerbocker Magazine, etc. 



Biographical Index of Authors. 407 

Grimshaw {William), a native of Ireland, was bora in 1782, emigrated to America in 
1S15. and lived for many years near Philadelphia. He was the author of the " History 
of England,'' the " History of France," and other elementary historical manuals, of 
considerable value for their general accuracy and judicious selection of material. 
He died in 1852. 

Goizot {Francois Pierre GuiUaume), a distinguished French historian and statesman, 
was born at Ximes in 1787. His most noted works are the History of Civilisation 
in France, the General History of Civilization in Europe, and Lectures on Modem. 
History. He held several important government offices, among them Minister of 
Public Instruction, aud Minister of the Interior, under Louis Philippe. After the 
Revolution of 1818, he escaped to England ; and subsequently published several 
works of great interest and merit, among them, "Memoirs to Serve for the History 
of My Times." In 1837, he was intrusted by the government of the United States 
with the task of writing a history of Washington ; and his work, entitled u The Life, 
Correspondence, and Writings of Washington," published in Paris in 183940, pro- 
cured him the honor of having his portrait placed in the chamber of the House of 
Representatives in Washington. His style is characterized by correctness, vigor, 
and brilliancy. 

Hamilton {Alexander), was particularly distinguished as a statesman ; but his pub- 
lished writings show the same intellectual vigor and fertility as were evinced by his 
political measures. His essays contained in the Federalist are models of reasoning 
as well as composition. A carefully prepared edition of his works has been pub- 
lished by his son, John C. Hamilton. 

Hawthorne (Nathaniel), was born at Salem, Massachusetts, in 1804. His numer- 
ous writings show line culture and great originality of genius. The Scarlet Letter, 
as a highly-wrought fiction, composed with the most artistic finish, has no superior 
in the language. The most noted of his other works are Mosses from an Old Manse, 
the House of the' Seven Guilts, Twice-told Tales, and the Marble Faun, all of which 
are compositions of distinguished merit. He also wrote many educational works, in 
which he displayed a happy facility in adapting the style and treatment to the capac- 
ity of young minds. 

Head ley (Rev. Joel Tyler), one of the most popular writers of the time, was born in 
Delaware County. New York, in 1814. His principal historical works are Napoleon 
and his Marshals, Washington and his Generals, Life of Oliver Cromwell, andHistory 
of the'Second War between England and the United States. These works are chiefly 
distinguished for their melodramatic descriptions and brilliancy of style, but in re- 
spect to accuracy of statement have been sharply criticised. Mr. Headley has also 
published many other works, of considerable literary excellence. 

Hemaus (Mrs. Felicia J).), a celebrated English poetess, w r as born in Liverpool in 
1794, and very early showed remarkable talent for poetical composition, publishing 
her first volume of poems in her fifteenth year. Her subsequent writings, which are 
very numerous, are characterized by great beauty, both of sentiment and expression. 
Her death occurred in Dublin in 1835. 

Hildretli (Richard), a distinguished American writer and journalist. His chief w r ork 
is a "History of the United States." which is especially valuable for its accuracy and 
directness of statement, its dignified but unpretending style, and the fullness of its 
information in regard to the political history of the countiy. This work w r as pub- 
lished between 1849 and 1855. 

Holmes (Abiel, D.D.), born in Connecticut in 1763 ; graduated at Yale College, and 
subsequently was pastor of a church in Cambridge, Mass., for forty years. As an 
author he is chiefly known by the "Annals of America," a work of considerable 
industry and research, first published in 1805. It relates clearly and concisely, in the 
order of occurrence, the chief events in the history of the country, from its discovery, 
in 1492, to the year of publication. An enlarged edition was issued in 1826. Dr. 
Holmes died in 1837. 

18 



408 Biographical Index of Authors. 

Holmes (Oliver Wendell, M.D.), son of Abiel Holmes, was born at Cambridge, Mass., 
in-1809, graduated at Harvard University in 1829, and commenced the practice of 
medicine in Boston in 1836. He has attained a very wide popularity as a poet, on 
account of the brilliancy of his style, the richness and geniality of his humor, and the 
shrewdness and sound sense of his observations. His satire is playful, but exceed- 
ingly pungent and effective. His contributions to the Atlantic Monthly have been 
characterized, in a remarkable degree, by their raciness, wit, and originality. The 
medical publications of Dr. Holmes have also been highly commended. 

Hooper {Lucy), a young poetess of unusual promise, who died in 1841, at the age of 
25. She Avas born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, but for several years before her 
death resided in Brooklyn, N. Y., where she wrote those compositions by which her 
literary reputation was attained. In 1842, appeared her Poetical Remains, with a 
memoir by John Keese ; and in 1S48, her complete Poetical Works. It was of her 
that H. T. Tuckerman wrote, 

" And thou art gone ! sweet daughter of the lyre, 
Whose strains we hoped to hear thee waken long ; 

Gone — as the stars in morning's light expire, 
Gone— like the rapture of a passing song ! " 

Hopkinson (Joseph), son of Francis Hopkinson, who was one of the signers of the 
Declaration of Independence, and eminent as a lawyer and politician. Joseph was 
born in Philadelphia, in 1770, and became distinguished for his legal attainments and 
eloquence as an advocate. He was a judge of the District Court of the United States ; 
and, at the time of his death, in 1842, was President of the Academy of Fine Arts, as 
well as Vice-president of the American Philosophical Society. As a writer, he is 
chiefly known as the author of the popular national song, " Hail, Columbia." 

Irving ( Washington), the illustrious American author, was born in New York City, in 
1783. He at first devoted himself to legal studies, which he soon abandoned for the 
more congenial pursuits of literature. His first writings consisted of contributions 
to the Morning Chronicle, a journal edited by his brother, Peter Irving. " Salma- 
gundi" appeared in 1807, a series of amusing articles, partly written by himself, 
James K Paulding, and his brothers, Peter and William. The production which 
first gave him a decided reputation was the famous " History of New York, by Died- 
rich Knickerbocker," published in 1809. This is a work of inimitable humor, ana 
was read Avith the greatest delight on both sides of the Atlantic. Sir Walter Scott 
enthusiastically admired it. The "Sketch Book" Avas published in London, and 
greatly enhanced the author's reputation. It contains some of the most beautiful 
and touching pieces of composition in the language. He also published " Life and 
Voyages of Columbus," "The Alhambra," "Bracebridge Hall," "Life of Washing- 
ton," and many other popular works. Irving's style is remarkable for its elegance 
and copiousness; Avhile the purity of his sentiments, his sympathy Avith mankind, 
his geniality and kindliness, his innocent and playful satire, mixed with the pathetic, 
make his writings an inexhaustible fountain of intellectual enjoyment. He died 
at his residence, Sunnyside, a charming spot on the banks of the Hudson, Novem- 
ber 28th, 1859, universally loved and esteemed for his artlessness and benevolence 
of character, and honored, not only for his genius, but for the virtues by Avhich it 
was adorned. 

Jay (Rev. William), an eminent dissenting clergyman of the city of Bath, in England, 
and the author of several religious publications of considerable value and merit. As 
a preacher, he acquired great celebrity, Sheridan styling him the "most natural 
orator he had ever heard." He died in 1854, at the advanced age of 85. 

Jefferson (Thomas), Avas born in 1743, and died in 1826. He has been styled the 
"Sage of Monticello," from the place of his residence. As an author, he is chiefly 



Biographical Index of Authors. 409 

distinguished for the composition of the Declaration of Independence, which was 
adopted by Congress nearly as it was presented by him. In relation to this, Mr. 
Webster, in his great oration of 1826, remarked, "Xone of the changes made in it 
by the other members of the committee, or by Congress, altered the tone, the frame, 
the arrangement, er the general character of the instrument. As a composition, the 
Declaration is Mr. Jefferson's." Mr. Everett, in this connection, most justly and 
forcibly remarks, " To have been the instrument of expressing, in one brief, decisive 
act, the concentrated will and resolution of a whole family of States ; of unfolding, 
in one all-important manifesto, the causes, the motives, and the justification of this 
great movement in human affairs ; to have been permitted to give the impress and 
peculiarity of his own mind to a charter of public right, destined — or, rather, let me 
say, already elevated— to an importance, in the estimation of men, equal to anything 
human, ever borne on parchment, or expressed in the visible signs of thought, — this 
is the glory of Thomas Jefferson/' The " Notes on Virginia," is the best known of 
Mr. Jefferson's formal publications. It was first published in Paris, in 1782; but 
numerous editions have been since issued from the American press. It treats of the 
civil condition, as well as natural characteristics, of the State, with considerable 
fullness, and in an interesting, instructive, and thoughtful manner. 

Key (Francis Scott), the son of an officer in the American army during the Revolution, 
was born in Maryland in 1779. He at first practiced law in that State, but after- • 
ward removed to Washington, D. C, where he served as district-attorney. A volume 
of his poems was published in 1859. His most popular composition is the " Star- 
Spangled Banner," published in 1814. Many of his other poems, however, possess 
considerable merit. His death occurred in 1843. 

liee (Henry), a native of Virginia, born in 1756, was Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant 
of the Putnam Legion, during the Revolutionary war. In 1786 and in 1799 he served in 
Congress ; and in 1792 was elected governor of his native State, in every position ac- 
quiring an honorable distinction. He died in 1818. His chief writings were an Ora- 
tion on George Washington, and Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of 
the United States, the latter published in 1812. 

liougfellow (Henri/ Wadsa-orrh), one of the most distinguished of the American 
poets, was born in Portland, Maine, in 1807, and was graduated at Bowdoin College in 
1S25. in which institution he subsequently performed the duties of Professor of 
Modern Languages. He afterward held the position of Professor of Belle-Lettres in 
Harvard College, till 1853. His chief poemsare Evangeline and Hiawatha ; but many 
of his minor pieces are very widely popular, as the Psalm of Life, Excelsior, Voices of 
Vie Night, etc., etc. His prose writings are also quite numerous, and have been greatly 
admired. Hyperion, a romance, abounds in picturesque description, and is written 
in a chaste and beautiful style. Longfellow's peculiar traits are artistic finish in 
composition, beauty of imagery, and great tenderness of feeling ; while his sym- 
pathies with every phase of humanity are genuine and heart-felt. Good-sense and 
justness of sentiment pervade all his writings. 

Logging (Benson J.), an American writer and artist, chiefly distinguished for his efforts 
to illustrate and popularize the history of the United States. For this purpose his 
" Field-Book of the Revolution" is a most admirable and valuable work. Mr. Los- 
sing is the author of many other works in American history, of no inconsiderable 
merit. 

Mackenzie (Robert), was born near Dundee, Scotland, in 1823, of which city he is 
now a resident. He is extensively engaged in the linen manufacture, and has large 
commercial relations with this country, which he has frequently visited. During 
the Civil War, he wrote a little book, entitled "America and her Army," regarding 
which, Mr. Seward, then Secretary of State, thus expressed himself, " The book is so 
genially written, and yet with so much of truth and reason, that it can well be ac- 
cepted by our countrymen, as a compensation for the columns of reproach which 



4io Biographical Index of Authors, 

have been poured upon us by the enemies of freedom and humanity in England." 
His chief publication is, however, " The United States of America : A History," 
which is written in a pleasant, spirited, and picturesque style, and evidently with a 
most zealous interest in the cause of truth and freedom. The object of the author in 
its composition was, to dispel the ignorance and correct the inconceivable mistakes 
which prevail in England, in relation to this country. This work was published in 
18T0. 

Mackintosh (Sir James), one of the most distinguished philosophers of modern 
times, was born near Inverness, Scotland, in 1765. He not only acquired fame for the 
depth and soundness of his views in political, moral, and mental philosophy, but was 
deservedly illustrious as an essayist and historian, as well as for his extensive legal 
attainments. He was the author of Vindicice GaJtlicoe, a work written in defense of 
the French Revolution, in reply to the Reflections on the French Revolution, by Edmund 
Burke; a. History of England, which he left unfinished; a Dissertation on the Prog- 
ress of Ethical Philosophy, and various miscellaneous essays, contributed principally 
to the Edinburgh Review. During eight years of his life he held the office of Re- 
corder of Bombay, in India. His death occurred in 1832. The Life of Sir James 
Mackintosh, written by his son, is a highly interesting and instructive work. 

Mansfield {Edward D.) was born in 1SU1, and graduated at the United States Mili- 
tary Academy, at West Point, in 1819. He is the author of several works, chief 
among which are the Life of General Scott, and the History of the Mexican War. He 
also published, in 1850, a work entitled American Education. 

Marshall {John, LL.D.), Chief-Justice of the United States, from 1801 to the time of 
his death, in 1835. He was born in 1755, and served as an officer in the Revolutionary 
War. His claims to authorship rest on nis Life of Washington, a work valuable for 
the accuracy of its statements, and the simplicity and perspicuity of its style. It has 
been, however, superseded by later publications, particularly those of Jared Sparks 
and Washington Irving, who have given lis more interesting details, in order to judge 
rightly the character of the Father of his Country. 

Mason {John M., 1J.D.), a very eloquent American divine, was born in the city of New 
York in 1770, and graduated at Columbia College in that city. He commenced pas- 
toral duties in 1792, and continued them with occasional intervals till his death, in 
1S29. He was greatly esteemed for his piety and erudition, and as a pulpit orator, 
had very few equals. His writings principally consist of sermons, addresses, and 
miscellaneous essays. 

Maxcy {Jonathan, D.D.), born in Massachusetts in 1768, and graduated at Brown Uni- 
versity, Providence, of which he was president from 1792 to 1802, and president of 
Union College, Schenectady, till 1804, when he became president ol the College of 
South Carolina. His writings consist chiefly of sermons and addresses, which 
display considerable scholarship and literary culture. He died in 1820. 

Mirabeau (Honore G.R., C'omtede), the most influential of the popular leaders in the 
National Assembly at the commencement of the French Revolution, and greatly dis- 
tinguished for his eloquence and address. In his early years he manifested an un- 
controllable temper, and indulged in every kind of vicious excess. As a punishment 
for a guilty intrigue, he was closely imprisoned at Vincennes for nearly four years 
Here he employed himself in literary labors, by which he was enabled to supply his 
necessities. After his Telease, he subsisted chiefly by literary labor, and still led a 
very profligate life. His political pamphlets were peculiarly able and effective. 
When the States-general were convened, he sought an election by the nobles, but 
being refused, he purchased a draper's shop, and becoming a candidate to the Third 
Estate, was triumphantly elected. He died in 1791, in the forty-second year of his 
age, and was interred with great pomp in the tl Pantheon" at Paris. 

Nott (Eliphalet, D.D., LL.J).), one of the most eloquent of American divines, is particu- 
larly distinguished by his labors in behalf of Union College, Schenectady, of which 



Biographical Index of Authors. 411 

institution he was elected president in 1804, and continued in that office for over 
sixty years. His published sermons and addresses are splendid productions, written 
in a fascinating, brilliant style, adorned with every rhetorical grace. His efforts in 
behalf of temperance were very earnest and effective. He died in 1866. 

Orne {Miss Caroline F.), an American poetess, born in Massachusetts. She wrote and 
published several volumes of poems, many of which have considerable merit. 

Palfrey {John Gorham), was bora in Boston, in 119(i, and educated at Harvard Uni- 
versity, in which institution he was afterward appointed Professor of Sacred Litera- 
ture. His lectures on the Evidences of Christianity and on the Hebrew Scriptures, as 
well as his numerous literary, historical, and political discourses, have been highly 
commended. His great work, the "History of New England," the first volume of 
which was published in 1858, has been universally approved, and admired for its 
thorough appreciation of the Puritan character, its accuracy of statemeut, and the 
purity and dignity of its style. 

Parker {Rev. Theodore), was born at Lexington, Mass., in 1810, graduated at the 
theological school in Cambridge, and settled in Roxbnry, as minister of a Unita- 
rian church. He subsequently became distinguished for the fluency and eloquence 
of his public lectures aud addresses, in which he displayed a remarkable pungency 
of satire, and an intense humanitarian spirit. His anti-slavery efforts were 
particularly vigorous and persistent. The boldness with which he advanced 
his peculiar views in religion, gave great offense to very many, and his theolog- 
ical writings have drawn upon him considerable bitter animadversion and censure. 
He was undoubtedly a man of great intellectual power, and a most kindly and phil- 
anthropic spirit. His death occurred at Florence, Italy, in 1860. 

Parknian {Francis), a native of Boston, where he was born in 1823. After gradu- 
ating at Harvard, in 1844, he traveled upon the western prairies, in order to obtain 
a knowledge of the manners and character of the Indians. His Conspiracy ofPon- 
liac is, by the testimony of Bancroft, "an uncommonly meritorious work.'" It is 
written in a lively style, and abounds in picturesque descriptions, and graphic de- 
lineations of Indian life and character. France and England in North America, 
a Series of Historical Narratives, including an account of the Huguenots in Florida, 
Samuel Champlain, and the Jesuits in North America, has been warmly commended 
by critics on both sides of the Atlantic. No historical course of reading can be 
complete that excludes these charming volumes. 

Partem {James), was born in England, in 1822, but has resided in New York since 
1826. He has written several excellent biographies, of Horace Greeley (1855), Aaron 
Burr (1857), Andrezv Jackson (1S60), Benjamin Franklin (1864), besides General 
Butler in New Orleans (1862). His contributions to various literary periodicals 
are very numerous. Mr. Parton's style is foi'cible, and most of his writings, par- 
ticularly the 41 Life and Times of Aaron Burr," and the " Life of Franklin," have 
acquired very considerable popularity. 

Pierpont {Rev. John), was born in 1785, at Litchfield, Conn., graduated at Yale 
College, and settled in Boston as a Unitarian clergyman. He afterwards had the 
pastoral charge of a congregation in Troy, and subsequently in Medford, Mass., 
where he died in 1866. His poems are characterized by smoothness and regularity of 
versification, and considerable spirit and energy. Of these the longest is the Airs 
of Palestine, which, when first published, received considerable praise. Mr. Pierpont 
also compiled a series of Reading Books, which were formerly in very extensive use. 

Pollard. {Edward A.), was formerly editor of the Richmond Examiner. He publish- 
ed various works in relation to the Civil War, written from a Southern standpoint. 
In 1866, appeared The Lost Cause ; a New Southern History of the War of the 
Confederates; and subsequently other works on topics connected with the same 
general subject. Mr. Pollard's stylo is copious and vigorous ; and the earnestness 
with which he writes makes his works interesting to all classes of readers. 



412 Biographical Index of Authors. 

Prescott (William H.), a distinguished American historian, was born in Salem, 
Mass., iu 1796, and was the grandson of Colonel Prescott, of revolutionary fame. 
His principal works are the " History of Ferdinand and Isabella," " The Con- 
quest of Mexico," "The Conquest of Peru," and the "History of the reign of Phil- 
ip II." The last-mentioned work he did not live to finish, dying in 1859. These 
various productions constitute a splendid contribution to English literature. The 
materials for their composition were collected with the most laborious research, 
and have been arranged with very great judgment and skill, while their style 
is a model for elegance and correctness. Though in affluent circumstances, and 
affected from early manhood with blindness, Mr. Prescott labored in his literary 
undertakings with indefatigable industry, and accomplished a task beyond the 
powers of most men in the enjoyment of every faculty. His high moral worth, 
amiable disposition, and geniality of manners, won for him the esteem of a very 
large circle of friends. 

Ramsay (David, M.D.), was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1749. After 
graduating at the College of New Jersey, he studied medicine, and commenced prac- 
tice in Charleston, South Carolina, where he resided during the remainder of his 
life. He was for several years (1782-5) a member of Congress, and during one year 
its president. His death was caused by a pistol-shot wound, received in the streets 
of Charleston, in 1815. In 1785, he published his History of the Revolution in 
South Carolina ; and five years afterward, the History of the A?nei*ican Revolution, 
which was received with universal commendation. His Life of Washington ap- 
peared in 1807,'andthe History of South Carolina, in 1809. He was also the author of 
several other works. As a historian, he was diligent in research, and his narrative 
is characterized by accuracy and impartiality, and is expressed in a simple and 
elegant style. 

Randall (Henry 8., LL.D.), is the author of several agricultural works, but beet 
known by his Life of Thomas Jefferson, published in 1857. This work is valuable 
for its conscientious research, and the skillful use which the author has made of 
the important materials placed in his hands by the descendants of the illustrious 
subject of the memoir. In other respects, it can claim no unusual credit, either for 
style or attractiveness. Mr. Randall was Secretary of State and Superintendent of 
Public Instruction in the State of New York, in 1851. 

Read (T. Buchanan), an artist and poet, was born in Pennsylvania, in 18-22. ne is the 
author of several volumes of poetry, some of which have been received with de- 
cided approbation. His short poem, entitled " Sheridan's Ride," became univer- 
sally popular throughout the North, immediately after its publication. Mr. Tuck- 
erman remarks of him, " He has an innate sense of beauty and the irrepressible tem- 
per of genius, a great command of language, a vivid fancy, and a musical ear." 

Ripley {Roswtil S.\ a native of Ohio, graduated at West Point in 1839. He wrote a 
History of the War tvith Mexico, which was published in 1849. It is the work 
of a soldier, and describes with impartial accuracy the operations and situations of 
the opposing armies during each of the campaigns of that conflict. 

Robertson (William), a, celebrated historian, was born in Scotland, in 1721, and 
educated at the University of Edinburgh. His " History of Scotland " was pub- 
lished in 1759, and received with favor and applause. In 1769, appeared his " His- 
tory of Charles V.," a work of great interest and value, and, in 1777, the " History 
of America." In all these works, Robertson displayed great skill in the arrange- 
ment and general treatment of his subjects, and impartiality and accuracy in his 
statements. Their style has a clearness, ease, and dignity, which give to them a 
peculiar charm. He died in 1793. 

So ii they (Robert), a celebrated English poet, was born in Bristol, in 1774, and died in 
1813. One of his first published poems, was " Wat Tyler," a production which, after 
he had changed his political opinions, he would gladly have suppressed. Its energy, 



Biographical Index of Authors. 413 

and bold vindication of liberal sentiments and popular freedom, however, make it 
perhaps, in England, the most generally popular of his writings. His other produc- 
tions include " Thalaba," "Joan of Arc," and various other poems, most of which 
show considerable fluency of expression, refinement of taste, and liveliness of 
fancy ; but are deficient in spirit, vigor of imagination, and power of invention, 
which are the characteristics of poetic genius. Sou they received a pension from the 
English government in 1807, and subsequently was made Poet-Laureate. His prose 
writings are also quite numerous. 

Sparks (Jared, LL.D.), was born in Connecticut, in 1789. His father was a poor 
farmer. He was apprenticed to a carpenter, but his love of books overcame all 
obstacles, and through the assistance of friends he was enabled to prepare for admis- 
sion into Harvard College, from which he graduated in 1S15. He subsequently became 
a Unitarian clergyman, and wrote several works on theological subjects. His fame, 
however, depends upon his publications in relation to Washington and the history 
of the Revolution ; for which he will ever receive the gratitude of posterity. His 
American Biography includes the life of sixty eminent personages, eight of which 
were written by the editor himself. Mr. Sparks died at Cambridge in 1866. 

Story {Joseph, LL.D.), the eminent American jurist, was born in Massachusetts, in 
1779. He was admitted to the bar in 1801, served several years as a member of the 
legislature of his native State, and in 1811 was appointed by President Madison 
associate-justice of the Supreme Court, which office he continued to. fill till his 
death, in 1845. His legal treatises have had a very high reputation both in this 
country and England. Lord Brougham pronounced him " the first jurist living." 
His miscellaneous writings arc also quite numerous. 

Sunnier (Charles, LL.D.), the distinguished American orator, statesman, and scholar, 
was born in Boston, in 1811, and graduated at Harvard College in 1830. He studied 
law under Judge Story and commenced to practice law in Boston ; he was soon 
highly distinguished for his legal attainments. In 1851, he succeeded Daniel Webster 
as United States Senator, and still occupies that position. He was, for many years, 
conspicuous for the courage and eloquence with which he opposed the institution of 
slavery. His orations and speeches are finished specimens of composition and 
rhetoric, and abound in illustrations culled from every department of literature. 
His sentiments, while in many respects quite extreme, are always guided by a high 
standard of moral principle, and are never relaxed to serve any object of temporary 
expediency. His legal publications are numerous, and have gained him very high 
respect as a jurist. 

Sweet (Samuel J¥.), the author of several works on elocution, upon which he was an 
attractive end popular lecturer. His treatise on Practical Elocution was published 
in 1839, and commanded a very extensive sale. He was the author of several other 
educational works. 

Timbs (John), a popular writer of Great Britain. His History of Wonderful Inventions 
is an interesting and valuable compilation. He is also the author of the Year-Booh 
of Facts, and other works, pertaining to the history of the useful arts and the prog- 
ress of scientific knowledge. 

Webster (Daniel), the celebrated American statesman and orator, was born in New 
Hampshire, in 1782. After graduating from Dartmouth College, he studied law, 
and was admitted to the bar in 1805. In 1813, he became a representative in Con- 
gress, and from that time until his death, in 1852, was almost uninterruptedly in 
the public service, as a member of Congress or a cabinet officer. In 1842, while 
Secretary of State, -under President Tyler, he negotiated the treaty with England, 
by which the northeastern boundary question was settled. His great orations may, 
it has been thought, claim a favorable comparison with even the most brilliant of 
ancient times. 

Webster (Noah, LL.D.), the author of the American, Dictionary, was born in Con- 



414 Biographical Index of Authors. 

necticut, in 1758, and graduated with considerable honor at Yale College, in 1778. 
He was at first a school-teacher, at Goshen, in New York, and while thus engaged, 
compiled his Spelling -Book, which he published at Hartford, in 1783. He soon after- 
ward published an English Grammar. The Spelling-Book has probably been the 
most widely circulated book ever published in this country. In 1784, he published 
Sketches of American Policy, a political work of considerable interest and merit. In 
1793, he started a daily paper in New York, which still continues to be published, 
as the Commercial Advertiser. He commenced the Dictionary in 1807, and spent 
twenty years in its compilation. This work has ever been recognized as a monu- 
ment of the industry and learning of its compiler: it has undergone numerous 
additions and improvements, and is now very extensively recognized as affording 
the best guide to the correct orthography, orthoepy, and etymology of the lan- 
guage. In some respects, the Dictionary of Dr. Worcester differs from this work; 
and in New England, particularly, the latter is generally preferred and followed as 
an authority. Dr. Webster died in 1843. 

Wliittier (John G.), the distinguished American poet, was born near Haverhill, in 
Massachusetts, in 1S07. He was quite prominent for his efforts in behalf of anti- 
slavery, and many of his most energetic poems were composed in this interest. 
Many of his compositions are remarkable for their bold denunciation of wrong; 
but others are marked by a pathos, tenderness, and delicacy of sentiment not 
exceeded by any other American poet. 

Willis (Nathaniel P.), an American writer and journalist, was born in Maine, in 1S06. 
He graduated from Yale College, where he had already won considerable reputation 
as a poet. His most admired writings are "Letters from Under a Bridge,'' "Ink- 
lings of Adventure," and the "Sacred Poems." In connection with George P. 
Morris he edited for many years the Home Journal, a periodical distinguished 
for its literary merit. He died at Idlewild, a romantic retreat near Newburgh, 
in 1807. 

Wini tar op (Robert C), was born in Boston, and graduated at Harvard College, in 
1828. He was for many years a member of the House of Representatives in Wash- 
ington, and Speaker of the House, from December, 1847, to March, 1849. He has 
attained a very high reputation both as a speaker and a writer. 

Wirt (William), was born in Maryland, in 1772. He commenced to practice law in 
Virginia, in 1792, and soon acquired a high reputation for his legal attainments and 
skill as an advocate. He subsequently entered political life, and filled several offices 
with credit. In 181ft, he was appointed by President Madison, United States Attor- 
ney for Virginia, and subsequently, by President Monroe, Attorney-General of the 
United States. He died in 1834. His chief publications are The British Spy, a 
series of very interesting letters ; and the Life of Patrick Henry, the longest of his 
literary productions, published in 1817. He wrote with great accuracy and elegance ; 
and spoke with a power and eloquence that commanded the immediate attention of 
his audience. As a public and professional man, he deserves to be ranked among the 
best the country has produced. 



ANDERSON'S SCHOOL HISTORIES. 



PRACTICAL BOOKS BY A PRACTICAL TEACHER. 



A Grammar-School History of the United States. 

By John J. Anderson, A.M., late Principal of Grammar School Nc 
31, New York City; Author of a Manual of General History, A Picto- 
rial School History of the United States, etc., etc. Illustrated with 
more than 40 Maps. 16mo. 258 pages. 

Characteristic Features. — 1. The narrative is written with great clearness and 
conciseness, and is brought down to the present time. 2. Unimportant matters are en- 
tirely omitted, or only incidentally alluded to. 3. The history and the geography are 
taught together. 4. The book is fully supplied with Maps, and the location of every 
place mentioned is accurately shown. 5. All the proper names are accurately prouounoed 
in connection with the names as they occur. 6. The plan affords frequent and systematic 
reviews by topics. 7. Two entirely different sets of questions run through the book. 
8. It contains the Constitution of the United States, with full explanations and class- 
exercises. 9. It contains Washington's Farewell Address. 10. It contains, at the close 
of the book, a complete resume of the whole history, arranged for topical study and 
recitation. 11. It contains but 260 pages. 12. It is sold at a moderate price. 

The jniblishers believe that teachers who are tired of the cumbersome histories of our 
country now largely in use, and desire a book with which they can produce satisfactory 
results, will find that this work will exactly meet their wants. 



Department op Public Instruction, 

Superintendent's Office, City of New York. 

"I have carefully examined Anderson's Histories, adopted by the Board of Education, 
and used in the Public Schools of this city, and cheerfully commend them to the favorable 
regard of teachers and School officers, as well adapted to the purposes of instruction in 
this branch of study, and as excellent and comprehensive compendiums of the leading 
events of history." S. S. RANDALL, Supt of Schools. ' 

"Anderson's Histories have been in use in the Grammar Schools of this city from the 
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From Fifty-seven Principals of Grammar Schools in the City of Net./ York. 
"We are using Anderson's Histories in our schools with complete success. For class- 
room instruction they are, we believe, superior to any other works on the subject with 
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Department op Public Instruction, 

Superintendent's Office, Brooklyn. 
"This is to certify that I am well acquainted with Anderson's Histories, they having 
been in the Public Schools of this city during the last three years. After having seen a 
variety of works on the subject tried here, I am confident that Anderson's are decidedly 
the best for class-room instruction. They give the teacher just the aid he needs to 
produce satisfactory results, and I therefore give them my unqualified recommendation." 

J. W. BULKLEY, Sup't of Schools. 
" Mr. Anderson has, I think, fonnd the golden mean in nearly every feature that should 
characterize a judicious school history." 

JAMES CRUIKSIIANK, Ass't Sup't of ScJiools. 

' From the Principals of the Grammar Schools in the City of Brooklyn. 
"It gives us pleasure, after using Anderson's Histories in our schools during the last 
two years, ^i say that we like them. The plan of instruction, combining the geography 



with the clB*»"fct>' of \fc narrative, is one which gives the books a decided superiority 
e subject. They have our hearty commendation." 



over the \ 



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Published by CLAllK & MAYNARD, New York. 












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Sir. AUGU3TFNET FLORIDA 




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